Blue Moon: Book Two: A Journey
by Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan
Summary: *The Sequel to Blue Moon: Book One: Untold Secrets* Dewpaw, Amberpaw and Snowpaw have uncovered the meaning of the prophecy, but that doesn't mean the path ahead will be easy. They face many challenges and are yet to discover themselves. Travelling through the mountains and back towards the old forest to return a lost clan and some may come out better than others.
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**ATTENTION!**

**This is the sequel, to my first book, Blue Moon: Book One: Untold Secrets! Please read that before reading this! Thanks**

**Link here: s/9033535/1/Blue-Moon-Book-One-Untold-Secrets**

**StarClan, the allegiances took forever! Particularly SkyClan! A little fun fact, Redpaw and Whitepaw of SkyClan are Sharpclaw and Cherrytail's second litter. ^^ Anyway, a random question... From my writing, how old would you guess I am? Just a little random question.**

**Anyway, on with the story. Please Read and Review, I love to hear your thoughts!**

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Allegiances

THUNDERCLAN

Leader Bramblestar – dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy Lionblaze – golden tabby tom with amber eyes (standing in

for Squirrelflight whilst she nurses her kits)

Medicine Cat Leafpool – light brown tabby she-cat with amber

eyes, apprentice, Jayfeather

Warriors  (toms and she-cats without kits)

Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom

Sorreltail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes

apprentice, Amberpaw

Thornclaw – golden brown tabby tom

Spiderleg – long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and

amber eyes

Birchfall – light brown tabby tom

apprentice, Dewpaw

Whitewing – white she-cat with green eyes

Berrynose – cream-coloured tom

Hazeltail – small grey-and-white she-cat

Mousewhisker – grey-and-white tom

Orangeflight – orange tabby she-cat with green eyes

Poppyfrost – tortoiseshell she-cat

Lionblaze – golden tabby tom with amber eyes

Foxleap – reddish tabby tom

Icecloud – white she-cat

apprentice, Snowpaw

Toadstep – black-and-white tom

Rosepetal – dark cream she-cat

Blossomfall – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Bumblestripe – very pale grey tom with black stripes

Dovewing – pale grey she-cat with blue eyes

Ivypool – silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

Molespots – brown-and-cream tom

Lilystream – dark brown tabby she-cat with white patches

Seedflight – very pale ginger she-cat

Apprentices (at least six moons, in training to become warriors)

Jayfeather – grey tabby tom with blind blue eyes

Dewpaw – dark grey tom with amber eyes

Snowpaw – white tom with amber eyes

Amberpaw – pale grey she-cat with white patches

Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

Cinderheart – grey tabby she-cat, mother to Pebblekit (golden

tabby tom), Puddlekit (very pale grey tom), Honeykit (golden

brown tabby she-kit), Stormkit

Cherryflower – ginger she-cat, mother to Redkit (dark fox-red

tom) and Lakekit (pale ginger tabby she-kit with white patches)

Squirrelflight – dark ginger she-cat with green eyes, mother to

Nettlekit (mottled pale grey tom), Finchkit (dark brown-and-

white tabby tom) and Flamekit (very bright ginger she-kit)

Daisy – cream long-furred cat from horseplace

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

Cloudtail – long-haired white tom with blue eyes

Brightheart –white she-cat with ginger patches she-cat

Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom

Greystripe – long-haired grey tom

Sandstorm – pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

Millie – striped grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes

SHADOWCLAN

Leader Crowstar – black-and-white tom

Deputy Toadfoot – dark brown tom

Apprentice, Thornpaw (pale brown tabby tom)

Medicine Cat Berrywhisker – mottled grey she-cat

Warriors Applefur – mottled brown she-cat

Ratscar – brown tom with a long scar running down his

back

Tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Olivenose – tortoiseshell she-cat

Owlclaw – light brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Ravenpaw (black-and-white tom)

Shrewfoot – grey she-cat with black feet

Scorchfur – dark grey tom

Ivytail – black, white and tortoiseshell she-cat

Tigerheart – dark brown tabby tom

apprentice, Snowypaw (small white she-cat)

Dawnpelt – cream-furred she-cat

Pinenose – black she-cat

Ferretclaw – cream-and-grey tom

Starlingwing – ginger tom

Apprentice, Smallpaw (small black she-cat)

Queens Kinkfur – tabby she-cat with long fur that sticks out at all

angles

Snowbird – pure white she-cat (mother to Mottlekit and

Nightkit)

Elders Littlecloud – very small tabby tom, former medicine cat

Snaketail – dark brown tom with tabby-striped tail

Smokefoot – black tom

WINDCLAN

Leader Onestar – brown tabby tom

Deputy Sedgewhisker – light brown tabby she-cat

Medicine Cat Kestrelflight – mottled grey tom

apprentice, Larkpaw (dark grey she-cat)

Warriors Crowfeather – dark grey tom

Owlwhisker – light brown tabby tom

Gorsetail – very pale grey-and-white tom with blue eyes

Weaselfur – ginger tom with white paws

apprentice, Strongpaw (large dark brown tom)

Harespring – brown-and-white tom

Leaftail – dark tabby tom with amber eyes

Emberfoot – grey tom with two dark paws

apprentice, Rabbitpaw (pale brown she-cat with white paws)

Sunstrike – tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on

her forhead

Swallowtail – dark grey she-cat

Whiskernose – light brown tom

apprentice, Mudpaw (brown-and-cream tom)

Boulderfur – large pale grey tom

Crouchfoot – black tom

Tinystep – very pale grey she-cat

Quickbird – dark brown she-cat

Queens Heathertail – light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

(mother to Falconkit, Eaglekit, Wildkit and Swiftkit)

Furzepelt – grey-and-white she-cat (mother to Littlekit)

Elders Ashfoot – grey she-cat, former deputy

Whitetail – small white she-cat

RIVERCLAN

Leader Mistystar – grey she-cat with blue eyes

Deputy Grasspelt – light brown tom

apprentice, Rapidpaw (pale brown-and-white tom)

Medicine Cat Mothwing – dappled golden she-cat

apprentice, Willowshine (grey tabby she-cat)

Warriors Mintfur – light grey tabby tom

apprentice, Sandypaw (very pale ginger tom)

Icewing – white she-cat with blue eyes

Pebblefoot – mottled grey tom

Duskfur – brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice, Swanpaw (white she-cat with blue eyes)

Mallownose – light brown tabby tom

Robinwing – tortoiseshell-and-white tom

Hollowflight – dark brown tabby tom

Mossyfoot – brown-and-white she-cat

apprentice, Rainpaw (dark grey she-cat)

Rushtail – light brown tabby tom

Heronbeak – brown tabby tom

Littlestream – tortoiseshell she-cat

Cloudysky – grey-and-white she-cat

Goldenlight – very pale ginger she-cat

Queens Minnowtail – dark grey she-cat, expecting Mintfur's kits

Petalfur – grey-and-white she-cat (mother to Robinwing's

kits, Morningkit, Shadekit, Duck-kit and Pikekit)

Troutstream – pale grey tabby she-cat (mother to Rushingkit,

Greykit and Bluekit)

Mosspelt – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

Elders Reedwhisker – black tom

Greymist – pale grey tabby she-cat

Pouncetail – ginger-and-white tom

SKYCLAN

Leader Leafstar – brown-and-cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Deputy Sharpclaw – dark ginger tom

Medicine Cat Frecklewish – mottled light brown tabby she-cat with

spotted legs, apprentice, Brackenpaw (light brown tabby tom)

Warriors Waspwhisker – grey-and-white tom

Shrewtooth – skinny black tom

Ebonyclaw – striking black she-cat, former daylight-warrior

Billystorm – ginger-and-white tom

Harveymoon – white tom, former daylight-warrior

Apprentice, Brightpaw (ginger-and-white she-cat)

Rockshade – black tom (Clovertail's son)

Bouncefire – ginger tom (Clovertail's son)

Sagewhisker – pale grey tom (son of Petalnose and Rainfur)

Mintfur – grey tabby she-cat (daughter of Petalnose and

Rainfur)

Rabbitleap – very pale brown tom

Apprentice, Whitepaw (white she-cat with green eyes)

Creekfeather – grey tabby tom

Nettlesplash – pale brown tom

Plumwillow – dark grey she-cat

Honeysplash – light golden she-cat (daughter of Patchfoot

and Clovertail), apprentice, Redpaw (tortoiseshell-and-white

she-cat)

Birdflight – black she-cat with a grey muzzle (daughter of

Patchfoot and Clovertail)

Sandypelt – light ginger-and-white tom (son of Patchfoot

and Clovertail)

Harryclaw – grey tom with a pale muzzle and underbelly

(son of Billystorm and Leafstar

Stormwhisker – grey-and-ginger she-cat (daughter of

Billystorm and Leafstar)

Robinsong – golden brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

(daughter of Cherrytail and Sharpclaw)

Flintclaw – dark grey-and-ginger tom (son of Cherrytail

and Sharpclaw)

Shadewillow – black she-cat (daughter of Shrewtooth and

Ebonyclaw)

Greywhisper – very dark grey she-cat (son of Shrewtooth

and Ebonyclaw)

Sparrowfoot – black tom with one white paw (son of

Shrewtooth and Ebonyclaw)

Cloudfoot – brown tabby tom with white paws (son of

Rabbitleap and Mintfur)

Berrystep – pale brown tabby tom (son of Rabbitleap and

Mintfur)

Queens Fallowfern – pale brown she-cat (mother to Mousekit and

Stonekit)

Firesong – dark ginger she-cat (daughter of Billystorm and

Leafstar, expecting Flintclaw's kits)

Tinycloud – small white she-cat (Clovertail's daughter,

Expecting Sagewhisker's kits)

Elders Echosong – silver tabby she-cat with green eyes, former

medicine cat

Patchfoot – very old black-and-white tom

Clovertail – light brown she-cat with white belly and legs

Petalnose – pale grey she-cat

Cherrytail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Prologue

A full moon lit the forest that night. It wasn't cold, but a bitter wind ruffled the pelts of the many cats gathered around a large pool.

Eyes glinted in the darkness, starry pelts standing out from the rest of the forest. Muffled murmurs rippled amongst the few gathered cats. The cat who appeared to be the leader of the group, was a blue-grey she-cat with blue eyes.

She stood upon a great rock at the side of the pool, standing proud but her water-blue eyes were clouded with worry. _It is a dark time for my clan, for all the clans._

Beside her sat a bright ginger tom with a starry, flame-coloured pelt. He had eyes bright and green as the greenest forest in the middle of Green-leaf. Though they weren't as bright and carefree as usual and also swam with worry.

Too his right, a smoky dark grey she-cat who smelt of herbs and a pale grey she-cat with darker flecks. Both looked just as concerned as the first two cats.

They appeared to be waiting. _Waiting for what? A cat? Something to happen?_

"Sorry I'm late!" a black she-cat burst out of the bushes, green eyes bright, "I was talking with Fallen Leaves."

The blue-grey she-cat purred in amusement before falling solemn, "That's all right Hollyleaf, but try to turn up in time next time, this meeting is important and we're wasting moonlight."

"Technically," the smoky grey she-cat meowed, "We have all the time in the world seeing as we're dead."

The fire-pelted tom rolled his eyes at the smoky grey she-cat's words, "Yes, but we have to hunt and such, just like any other cat."

"Surely that can wait," the pale grey she-cat with flecks meowed, "After all, our territory is rich with prey and hunting is easy here. We can't rush meetings like these, they are important."

The blue-grey cat ignored the comments, "Hush, we must concentrate on the real problem here," her blue gaze swept over the felines before her, "The chosen cats of the prophecy are only _apprentices,_ we must remember this. They have never been to the old territory before, they do not know how to get there, not do they know where SkyClan reside."

"They are capable, Bluestar," the smoky grey she-cat murmured, "We will also guide their paws in their dreams, we can push them in the right direction."

Bluestar gave a curt nod, "Yes, I was thinking about this earlier," she continued, "And I came upon the conclusion that one cat of our ranks is chosen to guide the paws of each apprentice."

The bright ginger tom nodded in agreement, "Yes that's a good idea."

"But who should watch each one?" the pale grey she-cat with flecks asked, inclining her head as she studied Bluestar.

The blue-grey she-cat beckoned to the shimmering moonlit pool with a gentle flick of her tail, "Watch," she whispered, leaping off the great rock to stand by the side of the pool.

An image rippled in the pool, of a cat. The bright ginger tom nodded, "I'm thinking that a cat with considerable patience should watch this one?" he suggested.

Bluestar nodded, "Yes, Honeyfern perhaps? She died a brave and noble death, but has considerable patience and is very kind. She has not once complained that she died too early or that she had so much left to do, but accepted her death."

The pale grey she-cat gave a nod, "Yes, she is a deserving cat and would teach much to the young apprentice."

Another image appeared in the pool, this time of a different cat, "And him?"

The fire-pelted tom studied the water for a moment, "A medicine cat perhaps? To teach him of herbs, they could do with someone with knowledge of herbs in case of injury or disease. He is the most intelligent and quickest to learn," he paused, "I would say Spottedleaf, but"- he broke off, voice thickening with grief.

Bluestar touched her tail to his shoulder briefly, "We all miss her, but we must move on," her gaze fell to the smoky grey she-cat, "Cinderpelt, perhaps you would like to guide this young one's paws?"

Cinderpelt eyes stretched wide with surprise before returning to their normal calm and collected state, "I would be honoured to Bluestar, anything to help my clan," her gaze shifted to the pool, "To help all of the clans."

"And finally, this one," all eyes fell upon the pool once more as the image changed to another cat once more.

"Ah," Cinderpelt meowed with a chuckle, "Another willing and patient warrior would be ideal for this cat, she's very eager and excitable."

The fiery tom nodded, "Perhaps Whitestorm or Lionheart? Or maybe even Briarlight, although she is a new member to our ranks, she has a great fighting spirit, rather like herself," he beckoned to the water.

Bluestar nodded, "Briarlight would be an excellent choice," she decided, sitting up a little taller and wrapping her tail around her paws.

"So it is decided," the fire-pelted tom murmured, "I will alert the chosen cats, as soon as the apprentices set off on their journeys, they too will go, walking other skies to follow and guard the lives of these young cats."

Bluestar nodded, "It's will be a long and harsh journey, some may come out of it better than others."

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**Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it. Please read and review, I love to hear your feedback.**


	2. Chapter One: Preparation

**Sorry for the long update time! I was on holiday and had no wifi. For a week! I'm not sure how I lived. xD Anyway, here ya go. Because there was no wifi, I didn't get distracted so I've already prewritten the next three chapters and almost half way through chapter four. :)**

**Anyway, I don't own warriors, Erin Hunter does.**

**Starshine1353 - I will do. ^^ Already planned out the whole series, there's going to be five or six books. :)**

**Hannah - Honeyfern was my favourite warrior EVER. I cried every day for about a week after her death, no kidding. I loved Cinderpelt too, almost as much as Honeyfern. -sob- This is random, but if you love Honeyfern, you might want to check out this video - watch?v=8AqkRGcIhxE It's so sweet, check it out everyone! Oh and you guessed correct, I'm just turned 13. ^^**

**Spottedmoth123 - Glad to hear your enjoying it. ^-^**

**FlyingOranges76 - :D This isn't the best chapter, but oh well. The story picks up next chapter. :)**

**OoJayfeatheroO - D'aww! -blushes- Thank you!**

**MossyPaws - Can't. Resist. Kitty Eyes. xD I plan on continuing, I've already planned out all of the books in the series. ^^**

**icefire - :) Yes, Briarlight has her legs back. I had a great holiday, it was very rainy though, but hey, that's England for you.**

**Raggedstar 3 - That's absolutely fine! On my holiday, I had no wifi for a week, so I know what it's like. xD**

**icefire - xD You have an echo...**

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**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

They gathered, just as dawn light began to stream through the thick covering of clouds. Snowpaw, Amberpaw and Dewpaw, each were excited as the other, though there were many questions and nerves behind their brave faces.

Just a half moon stood between the three apprentices and their journey; their journey back through where the clans used to reside to find and return SkyClan, the lost clan that Sandstorm had spoken of when they were kits.

"We all know why we're gathered her," Snowpaw murmured, amber gaze drifting from Amberpaw to Dewpaw, "We must talk about preparations for our journey, and of course, whether we actually inform any of our clanmates of our quest."

Amberpaw giggled at the snowy-white tom's words, he sounded much more mature and serious than usual. _This is serious my sister! _Snowpaw thought desperately.

The white-furred tom looked from his brother to his sister, awaiting a response.

"Well," Dewpaw meowed finally after a long and admittedly, awkward, silence, "Obviously, we must pay extra close attention to our mentors in this half-moon. Any extra opportunities to train must be taken up, we must try and get on ever border patrol, every hunting patrol, every patrol," his amber eyes fell upon Amberpaw, "And for StarClan's sake, don't go running tail-end first into trouble! We can't risk getting injured for our journey."

Snowpaw was glad that his brother was finally taking this whole prophecy seriously, _Thank you Cloudstar! You are forever in my debt._

Amberpaw flinched at the dark grey tom's words, "I won't," she muttered quietly, "So long as you don't go being your usual self and moaning about everything," she hissed under her breath.

Thankfully, Dewpaw didn't seem to hear his sister's words. Snowpaw did though and he couldn't help but grin, amber eyes dancing with amusement.

"Right then," he meowed, rising to his paws again, "_I _am going to volunteer for the dawn patrol and then I'll go hunting with Icecloud," he meowed smugly, puffing out his chest and walking proudly.

Amberpaw smiled, "Well, I'm going training with Sorreltail and Lionblaze! Battle training!" she meowed excitedly, darting through the thorn barrier.

"And I," Dewpaw meowed, rising to his paws, "Am going to take a quick nap, eat a squirrel, then go and visit the elders' den."

Snowpaw stared at him, mouth gaping, "You what?!" he hissed, amber eyes blazing, "I thought you were taking this seriously!"

Dewpaw laughed, "I was being sarcastic, you furball," he nudged his brother playfully before disappearing through the thorn barrier.

"Oh," Snowpaw stood there for a few moments before following in his brother's paw steps and ducking under the thorn barrier. Amberpaw had already darted over to where Lionblaze and Sorreltail had just emerged from the Warriors' Den.

"You ready?" Lionblaze asked, amber eyes gleaming with warmth. Amberpaw nodded enthusiastically, perhaps even over enthusiastically.

"Come on then," Sorreltail meowed brightly, touching her tail to her apprentice's shoulder, "No one has ever beaten Lionblaze," she whispered playfully.

Snowpaw's gaze fell to where Dewpaw was, conversing with Bramblestar. The dark brown tabby tom looked far from amused.

"But I'm amazing at patrolling! I'm excellent at fighting, so if there are any border skirmishes, I'll be ready and"-

"Fine," Bramblestar sighed with a roll of his eyes, "But behave yourself, don't go jumping into trouble," he nodded to the waiting patrol, "Dewpaw is joining you!"

The dark grey tom's eyes lit up and he briefly glanced over at his brother, giving a small wink, before darting over to the rest of the dawn patrol.

"Oh StarClan, don't say Dewpaw's joining us," Thornclaw, the leader of the patrol, complained.

Blossomfall gently batted him playfully with a forepaw, "He's not _that _bad," she meowed, "With your complaining, you wouldn't know you're a senior warrior."

Thornclaw rolled his eyes, but fell silent. Blossomfall was hard to beat in an argument, every cat in ThunderClan knew that. She could be nice, but she was rather impatient.

Seeing as the dawn patrol were now setting off, it was too late for the snow-furred tom to join them, so instead his amber gaze sought out any cats that may be up for taking him out, _Anyone but Icecloud._

In the corner of his eye, he could see a white warrior padding towards him, _Oh, StarClan why? I'd give anything just to get away from Icecloud! She's been so weird lately, one moment she's sweet as honey, the next minute she's as angry as a fox in a fit!_

"Snowpaw."

The white tom looked up, amber eyes clouding, only to brighten when he realised it wasn't Icecloud, but Whitewing. He smiled warmly at his older sister.

"Icecloud isn't in camp for some reason," she meowed, green gaze clouding with suspicion, "So, I've been asked to train with you."

Snowpaw nodded, "Sounds great," he mewed enthusiastically, jumping to his paws. Whitewing purred, dipping her head before darting out through the thorn barrier.

_Here we go again, in, out, in, out!_ Snowpaw smiled, leaping after her. The white warrior was waiting for him just outside the camp, "So," she meowed with a smile, "What would you like today, battle training or hunting? I'm afraid Icecloud didn't tell me what she planned doing with you today."

Snowpaw contemplated the two choices for a moment, the journey ahead of him heavily influencing his decisions already despite not even having stepped out of ThunderClan's territory yet. _We need to hunt to keep up our strength and of course to ensure we don't starve, but what if we run into trouble, like rogues?_

He tried to decided which his weaker subject was and eventually decided upon battle training, "I'd like to work on my battle training," he meowed, amber eyes bright.

Whitewing nodded, "Sure, how about we try some advanced moves today, not too long until you're a warrior. Only about two moons left," she began to pad forwards in the direction of the mossy hollow, beckoning the white apprentice to follow with a flick of her tail.

Snowpaw smiled, following the warrior obediently. He was already a skilled hunter, or so he had been told, it couldn't be _that_ hard to find prey where they were going, could it?

He shook the thoughts away, picking up the pace in order to match Whitewing's long strides. Although small for his age, Snowpaw still couldn't quite get over how big other cats were compared to him.

"So, have you done much battle training?" Whitewing inquired, her green eyes reflecting the forest.

Snowpaw nodded, "I'm not great at it though," he admitted, looking away from his older sister's burning green gaze.

"I'm sure you're not that bad," Whitewing mewed sympathetically, touching her tail to his shoulder.

_Wait 'till she sees me in action, then she wouldn't be so sympathetic._

**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

The mouse rooted around the twisted roots of the great oak, its dark brown fur pressed right against its wiry frame. It was completely oblivious to its stalker that lay in wait behind a small bramble thicket.

The prey soon found a small red berry and began to nibble at it. Dewpaw smirked, _that's a deathberry. I guess what everyone says is true, mice really are mouse-brained._

He shifted his haunches and on the count of three leapt through the air and killed the small mouse with a neat bite of the neck. _It's been eating deathberries, I wonder whether that will make whoever eats it ill or anything?_

The dark grey tom contemplated the thought for a moment before deciding that it would be fine. _It only just started eating it, it'll be fine._

He picked up the mouse in his jaws and glanced over his shoulder to see that Hazeltail had been watching his hunt all along.

"Good catch," she commented, padding over to greet the dark grey tom, "But this is a dawn _patrol_, not a hunting patrol," she pointed out.

Dewpaw nodded, his mew muffled by the mouse, "I know," he met the warrior's gaze for a moment before asking, "Where are the rest of the patrol?"

"They're waiting for you," Hazeltail replied immediately, flicking her tail in the direction she had been watching from, "Although prey will be welcomed by the clan, although the prey is still running well, leaf-bare is setting in."

Dewpaw nodded, "I'll just bury this," he told the grey-and-white she-cat.

Hazeltail gave a satisfied nod and darted over to the waiting patrol. Glad to be alone again, Dewpaw began to dig a small hole under the very oak where the mouse had been foraging just a few moments ago.

When it was of substantial depth, he dropped it in. A large drop of water landed on his head. _Oh, StarClan._

He glanced up at the darkening sky to see it was starting to rain, with a grumble he shook the moisture from his dark grey pelt only to find it replaced by several more raindrops.

Giving up on keeping a dry pelt, he darted over to the waiting patrol. They didn't seem too pleased to being subjected to waiting in the rain. The drops were steadily growing more frequent and closer together

"Rain," Thornclaw grumbled, "At least it's good for the forest. We don't want another drought."

Both Blossomfall and Hazeltail gave a nod of agreement.

"I quite like the rain," Poppyfrost commented, her green gaze drifting to the dark, cloudy sky. Dewpaw stared at her as if she were mad, _you like the rain? Really, who actually likes getting wet?_

"Come on then," Thornclaw meowed, "Let's get going, this is a patrol you know," he gave a sharp flick of his golden brown tabby tail and began to stride forwards.

Poppyfrost followed, Hazeltail and Blossomfall shortly behind her. Dewpaw bounded after the patrol leader and fell in beside him.

"What was the great journey like?" he asked out of the blue. _Hopefully, his answer will help us with our own journey. Perhaps he even knows the way to find SkyClan!_

Thornclaw frowned at this random question, "Oh," he paused for a moment, "It was very tiring, it felt like it took moons, but it was all worth it," his questioning amber gaze ran over Dewpaw for a moment, "Why'd you ask?"

Dewpaw looked away from the suspicious golden brown tabby, "I just wondered, because I-I, never really heard the story of the great journey from the elders?" he mewed, hoping that satisfied the senior warrior.

Luckily, Thornclaw nodded understandingly to Dewpaw's response, "Well, it was very difficult as every warrior would say, there were some times when I thought we should just give up, but we didn't and so we found the lake," he beckoned his tail to their surroundings.

Dewpaw couldn't help but admire the courage of the cats who had made the great journey, _they were so brave! Perhaps that'll be my littermates and I when we return SkyClan._

_"And if you fail?"_

Dewpaw jumped with surprise at the voice. He looked up expectantly at Thornclaw, "What did you just say?" he asked, inclining his head in confusion.

Thornclaw stared at him as if her were a mouse-brain, "I didn't say anything," he told him as he remarked the border with WindClan.

_"It wasn't Thornclaw small one," _the voice whispered softly and a sweet scent wreathed around him. Hearing the voice again, he wondered how he'd ever mistaken it for Thornclaw's; it was distinctly female and was soft as honey.

_"Don't fear, my name is Honeyfern. You will face many hard moons ahead of you, but I will travel with you. I will guide your paws." _He thought he felt a pelt brush against his for a moment and he frowned.

_Honeyfern? The one who died protecting Briarlight when she was a kit?_ The sweet scent of Honeyfern began to fade and he sensed she had left him.

"Well this day just gets better and better, first rain and now a mysterious StarClan warrior?" he grumbled to himself.

Thornclaw perked up at his mew, amber gaze alert, "Did you say something, Dewpaw?" he asked.

Dewpaw shook his head, "Uh, no, nothing," he looked away, "Just nothing."

**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

It had been a tiring day, but when Amberpaw went to her nest that night, she felt very accomplished. She'd listened intently to every word both Sorreltail and Lionblaze had said, ears pricked and eyes wide. She'd asked questions when she needed answers and tried to soak up every grain of knowledge from the two warriors.

Amberpaw had honestly tried her hardest and now was the time to call it a day and retreat to her nest. Snowpaw was already in his nest beside hers and she smiled upon spotting his sleeping form, gently rising and falling as he breathed.

_Who'd have thought, a few moons ago, he was on the brink of life and death. _She knew the white-furred tom had also been working his paws off and was already deep in sleep.

_If I'm exhausted, _she thought as she sunk into her mossy nest, _I can't imagine what Dewpaw feels like. _The dark grey tom was finally taking the whole prophecy thing seriously and was currently out night battle training… In trees.

"Well," Amberpaw muttered to herself as she settled herself down, "I'm leaving the night tree battle training stuff to Dewpaw, right now, I just want to sleep."

he grey-and-white apprentice slowly closed her eyes and then there were those brief moments where you're caught on the brink of consciousness and sleep.

_"Amberpaw,"_ a soft voice whispered in her ears, _"Rouse from your slumber, small one."_

The grey-and-white she-cat blinked wearily to find she was no longer in her nest. _Oh StarClan, not another dream! I was hoping for a night of just sleep._

And there, before her, was a cat she thought she'd never see again. Bathed in starshine, stood a dark brown she-cat. _Stood, wait, stood?_

It was Briarlight. Amberpaw's eyes filled with joy before falling to the deceased warrior's hind legs; they were healed!

"Greetings," she meowed, her voice deep with wisdom beyond her moons, "I bring news."

Amberpaw stared up at Briarlight, eyes wide, "N-news?" she stammered, "What do you mean, news?"

The dark brown she-cat chuckled, "On your journey," she whispered, "You will travel far from the skies StarClan walk, one StarClan cat has been chosen to follow and guide each of the chosen cats, I will be your guardian."

"So like a mentor?" Amberpaw asked, inclining her head as she studied the starry-pelted she-cat.

Briarlight nodded, "Sort of," she touched her tail to Amberpaw's shoulder, "Now, you must sleep, you must be strong."

Amberpaw nodded drowsily, slowly blinking her amber eyes. Briarlight began to fade and exhaustion crashed over her like a huge black wave, cocooning her in darkness.

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**Well, what did you think? Read and review please!**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**


	3. Chapter Two: Leaving It All Behind

**Apologies, I really rushed this chapter, the next chapters should be better. ^^**

**Anyway, I do NOT own warriors, Erin Hunter does.**

**Raggedstar 3 - I would never have guessed you like Raggedstar... xD**

**icefire - Thank you for your feedback, I rushed the end of this chapter a little, apologies! I was getting restless.**

**FlyingOranges76 - Thanks. :)**

**Hannah - He he, will do.**

**By the way guys! If you have any ideas for shippings, plots, anything, do tell me! Although I already have the whole thing planned out, I may be able to fit in some things you suggest. ^^**

**Anyway, read and review!**

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**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

_Time passes quickly_, that's what Cloudtail always told Snowpaw, and the last half-moon had certainly flown by. Like an out of reach bird passing through, no one could control it, nor could they catch it. The night of the gathering had arrived, the night they were to leave the clans on their journey.

Snowpaw and his littermates had specifically asked Bramblestar if they could stay at camp and so not to make the dark brown tabby suspicious, they had said they wanted to stay behind so they would be strong for training the next day.

_If only he knew,_ Snowpaw thought with a chuckle as he peered into the Apprentices' Den. Dewpaw and Amberpaw were in there sleeping, building up their strength for the journey. For the last half-moon, a StarClan warrior had been guiding the paws of each of them. Cinderpelt, the former ThunderClan medicine cat, was Snowpaw's guardian. Despite him not being a medicine cat, he had been teaching her all the herbs and diseases that they might need to know and although it didn't interest the white tom terribly, he listened very carefully to the smoky grey she-cat's words in the knowledge that it could save one of their lives on the journey.

Reluctantly, the snow-furred tom took a deep breath and stepped inside. He padded over to Amberpaw's nest and gently prodded her side with a white forepaw.

"Wha?" Amberpaw murmured drowsily, but upon recognising her brother, she instantly jumped to her paws. She nodded to Snowpaw before approaching the sleeping Dewpaw and poking him awake.

"What now? Can't you see I'm trying to"- Dewpaw snarled, then broke off when realisation finally hit him.

"It's time," Snowpaw murmured, "And could you try to be quieter please?" he asked, a sting in his usually calm and collected voice.

Dewpaw nodded, amber eyes drifting to the hollow outside. Snowpaw beckoned them to follow with a flick of his tail as he stepped out into the moonlight. The gathering party had set off a few moments earlier and the hollow was completely empty, every cat either being at the gathering or in their nests.

Dewpaw and Amberpaw followed Snowpaw in silence. The only sound was the gentle dozy purrs of sleeping cats and the occasional snore, all was still.

The scents of the forest overwhelmed Snowpaw, tempting him as he let his amber gaze wash over the hollow, the place he'd been born and grown up in. _And we're leaving it all behind._

The thought that they may never return upset Snowpaw deeply, but he tried to not let it get to him. He made the most of this last view of ThunderClan's camp, his home. He soaked up every nook and cranny, he didn't want to forget this place, not ever.

There was the medicine cat den, where Jayfeather had tended to his wounds after the battle and where, as a kit, he'd been taken after accidentally swallowing a poppy seed. Brightheart thought he was going to die, a bit of an overreaction on her behalf seeing as she had excellent knowledge of herbs for a warrior.

The medicine cat den was also where he'd shared those precious moments with Seedflight. Although little had been spoken between them lately due to his mad training schedule, he still couldn't get those memories out of his mind.

_Seedflight. _The name had a ring to it, she was so kind, gentle, but knowledgeable and brave. _I might never see her again._ He shook away the thoughts and let his amber eyes lap over the nursery, where he'd spent those six moons as a kit. _I thought the day I became an apprentice would never come, _he thought with an amused chuckle.

And then there was the Elders' Den. It was there that his parents, Brightheart and Cloudtail, resided now, their warrior days long gone. He had spent many painful moments in there, checking the elders for ticks and changing their bedding.

But there were also many good memories of that den. It was where he and his littermates would gather and listen to stories as a kit and of course, where he learnt of SkyClan, the lost clan.

His thoughts were side tracked to the journey ahead of him and his littermates and all of a sudden he felt completely out of his depth and overwhelmed by the task ahead. _I still have so much more to learn, we're apprentices for StarClan's sake!_

He tried to shake away the doubtful thoughts that flooded his mind, _we can't afford to think that way. We are as ready as we'll ever be, SkyClan need us._

"We must leave now," he whispered and with a nod to his littermates, he ducked under the thorn barrier and led them away from everything they'd ever known.

Their departure of the three cats been quiet, but not quite enough, for from the entrance of a bramble den, watched a pair of bright amber eyes. _They're leaving? Why? Where are they going?_ Thoughts overloaded the small cat's mind and he shook away the thoughts, _I must tell someone; they're leaving their clan!_

He glanced around the den at sleeping cats around him, _Mouse-dung! No one else is awake!_ He sat down in his nest once more and let his amber eyes dart around the den.

_Surely someone must be up! I can't be the only one!_ Exhaustion nibbled away at him and he forced a sigh, _I guess it can wait until tomorrow._

He sunk into his nest and finally couldn't resist the urge to sleep. Within moments, he was sound asleep in his soft mossy nest.

Snowpaw made sure they kept up a steady pace as they travelled through ThunderClan territory. They stopped to hunt briefly, seeing an opportunity, but after that, the white tom had insisted on no more stops until it was time to rest, and only then when they were out of clan territory.

He couldn't quite believe that they'd actually left their clan and that they were really setting out on their journey. _Will my clan miss me? What will they think about us leaving? They'll probably think us traitors._

His head hung low at the thought and his ears drooped. Amberpaw noticed his change in behaviour and fell in beside him, amber eyes glittering with concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked the snow-white tom, "Are you worried about the journey ahead?"

Snowpaw shook his head solemnly, "No, well, yes, of course I am, I was just thinking about how ThunderClan will react to us deserting them," he meowed honestly, not meeting her amber eyes.

Amberpaw gave him a comforting nudge, "We're not _deserting _them," she reminded him gently, "We're coming back and besides, we're not just leaving for any ordinary reason, StarClan told us to return the fifth clan!" she meowed, her voice growing stronger with every word.

The snowy-white tom nodded, feeling a little more hopeful. It was only then that he realised they had reached the WindClan border. He took a shuddery breath as his amber eyes fell to the small stream that separated the two clans.

He glanced sideways at Amberpaw only to hear a great _SPLASH! _His amber gaze returned to the stream where Dewpaw had leapt in and was now swimming across. Upon reaching the other side, the apprentice leapt out of the silvery-black depths and shook himself of the moisture.

Instead of its usual dark grey colour, Dewpaw's pelt was now a solid black because of all the water that clung to it and rather than being fluffy and sticking up, it drooped down.

Snowpaw laughed at his brother; he looked like a soggy RiverClan cat. Because of his long fur, the apprentice usually looked rather big, but now down to his real size, he was about the same size as himself.

"Don't laugh!" Dewpaw hissed, shaking his pelt free of water, "It's your turn next!"

Snowpaw stopped suddenly, realising what his brother had just said. He _really _didn't want to get wet and cold right now. _I could jump across it?_

He eyed the dark flowing waters, _Yes, I can leap across that._ He took a steady breath and took a few steps back for a run up. He paused for a moment, before summoning his strength and darting forwards, paws pounding against the soft grassy floor.

A stride before the stream, he leaped, paws flying through the air. There was that brief moment where he was soaring through the air, almost like a bird. And then he was falling. _Falling._

He crashed into the water, bracing at the impact. He flapped helplessly as water flooded his vision and he grew cold. He could hear the distant laughs from Amberpaw and Dewpaw.

Desperately thrashing about, he finally managed to reach the WindClan bank and dragged himself out onto the grass. He was in quite a bedraggled state, his soggy white fur clinging to his frame.

Snowpaw shivered helplessly as his littermates continued to laugh, "It's not funny!" he hissed, shaking as much moisture as he could from his snowy-white fur.

Amberpaw managed to stop laughing and had decided to try Snowpaw's method of crossing the stream. The annoying thing was that she was successful and out of the three was the only one with dry fur.

She flashed the two toms a smug look, amber eyes glittering with amusement.

"Let's get moving," Snowpaw grumbled, giving a last attempt to rid his pelt of water before rising to his paws and taking the lead once more. They set off towards the lakeside, forever wary of WindClan patrols.

As had been agreed for gatherings, they kept within two tail-lengths of the lake as they travelled. Snowpaw was still in disbelief, one, that he had taken a little dip and two, that they had actually left the clans.

"Will they miss us," he murmured, half to himself, "Will they miss us whilst we're gone."

"Of course they will," Dewpaw replied instantly, "We're the only apprentices, the young warriors will have to do all our duties."

Admittedly, that thought cheered Snowpaw up a lot, "But Cinderheart's kits are almost apprentice aged," he reminded the dark grey tom, "Then they'll take our duties and it'll be like we never existed."

"Oh no," Amberpaw mewed suddenly, "Cloudtail and Brightheart will miss us! They'll make sure no-one forgets about us, like they would anyway, and I'm sure Seedflight and Lilystream will remember us," the grey-and-white she-cat gave her brother a playful nudge, "_Especially_ Seedflight."

Snowpaw looked away from her teasing gaze and didn't reply. He didn't want to have a conversation with Amberpaw about Seedflight, not now, he was not in the mood.

In an attempt to end the conversation, he meowed, "I'm sure Molespots will miss you."

Amberpaw suddenly fell silent, clearly embarrassed. She didn't meet her other's teasing eyes.

"Yes, I know you like him," he meowed, enjoying himself by now, "Lilystream told me that you've been mooning over him."

No further words on that subject were spoken. Silence remained unbroken until they reached the tree-bridge. The booming meow of Crowstar could be heard, announcing new apprentices for the clan. The three stopped for a moment, to listen in on the words shared.

"I can't believe we're leaving," Dewpaw murmured, staring down at his paws, amber gaze solemn.

"Exactly my thoughts," Snowpaw replied, "Now, we'd better be moving on," he glanced up at the full moon above, "The gathering will be finishing soon, we don't want the clans to find us."

Amberpaw and Dewpaw nodded in agreement. They kept walking, refusing the urge to stop and rest. _Just a little while longer, _Snowpaw promised himself, _Just a little while._

They were nearing the horseplace when they finally gave in to the inner urges. Dewpaw found the group a small overhanging bramble thicket that would shelter them from any rain and wind.

They didn't bother find bedding, they were too exhausted to care. They slept on a bed of grass that night, and it was fast asleep in exactly the same place that they were found the next day.

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**Gah, I know, rushed. The next chapters should be better, hopefully. Read and review please!**

**Leafsplash, over and out.**


	4. Chapter Three: Horseplace

**Nice long chapter for you guys. ^^ I will be updating every two days now guys, just to let you know. Anyway, introducing a new viewpoint in this chapter, Seedflight! I love Seedflight. 3 I will be doing P.O.V.s from Seedflight and Lilystream from now on so that we can follow what's going on in ThunderClan, they won't be in every chapter, but they will be featured in the future.**

**Anyway, if you could check out my deviantart account here - That would be great if you could comment on some of my pictures. In the future I will be doing digital art pieces to go with major scenes in the fanfictions so keep your eyes peeled...**

**Anyway, could you do the honours Snowpaw?**

**Snowpaw: Certainly! -leaps out of your computer screen- LEAFSPLASH-OF-THUNDERCLAN DOES NOT OWN WARRIORS, NEITHER DOES SHE OWN AWESOMENESS! I AM THE OWNER OF THAT! -smiles smugly-**

**Me: Snowpaw! What's with the capslocks?**

**Snowpaw: -shrugs-**

**icefire - Awww, really? Well, there will be some really emotional scenes, much more emotional than this, in this book I think? Or it could be the next book... Anyway, yeah, I am keeping Cinderpelt's injured leg, but I think I'll make it so that she doesn't feel any pain.**

**Hannah - I don't want to give away any spoilers but... Yes, he finds a certain she-cat in SkyClan who he may/may not have feelings for... SkyClan will be being returned to the lake if that's what you mean, they'll be with the other clans, if they make the journey at least... Yes, they'll meet the tribe on the way back and we will see the return of some old friends...**

**Orangeflight of ShadowClan - Phew! Your new name took a long time to write. xD And Thanks. :)**

**Raggedstar 3 - Awww, it makes me so happy to think that my writing actually made someone emotional. :') I love writing about Leafstar so I can't wait until I get to the chapters that include her.**

**danilynea - I agree, Dewpaw's awesome. I'm not that keen on Jayfeather, but Dewpaw is so fun to write about!**

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**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

"I wonder what they were doing out there."

"I thought all the clan cats lived together, not out without even straw to sleep on?"

"Hush! They're awaking!"

Amberpaw slowly blinked open her amber eyes to find herself in a completely different place to where she'd fallen asleep. Beneath her was a soft bed of hay and straw and towering over her stood two cats, who certainly weren't clan cats.

Both were grey and white and it was a moment before either spoke up, "Welcome to the barn!" the she-cat meowed brightly, "You slept a while," she nodded to a small slit in the tall walls of the twoleg barn where sunlight was flooding in, "You must be exhausted."

Amberpaw frowned in confusion at the unnatural place she was in and at the two strange cats before her. Both smelt strongly of hay, mice and twolegs.

Above her head was a strange overhanging, thick wall, that looked to be made of trees, though very different in shape and structure, "Where am I?" she mumbled drowsily.

"The barn," The grey-and-white she-cat meowed, "Our barn," she nodded to the muscular grey-and-white tom, "Smoky and I found you early this morning nearby, so we took you in."

Amberpaw realised, with great relief, that she wasn't alone. Dewpaw and Snowpaw were sleeping deeply beside her, _Were we really that exhausted that we didn't even notice when we were moved?_

"You're just kits!" The she-cat suddenly meowed, rushing forwards and licking Amberpaw's pelt in short hurried strokes, "What were you doing out there!"

The grey-and-white apprentice shied away at the she-cat's sudden action, "I'm not a kit," she protested, backing away a little, "I'm almost a warrior, a ThunderClan warrior."

The grey-and-white she-cat's eyes filled with recognition, "Ah, yes!" she meowed rather loudly, "The Thunder Clan that Daisy joined, she used to live here, with Smoky and I," Amberpaw noticed that the muscular tom had remained mute all this time, he seemed rather protective of something. _What?_

It was then that Amberpaw noticed the faint mewling of kits and the milky scent that clung to the small grey-and-white patched she-cat. _Ah, they have kits_, "Yes, Daisy is a queen," she meowed, glancing over her shoulder at Dewpaw and Snowpaw, "Do you mind if I wake them?"

The grey-and-white she-cat nodded furiously, green eyes flooding with understanding, "Of course!"

Amberpaw smiled and crept over to where Dewpaw lay. She prodded him gently, "Wake up Dewpaw," she whispered. The dark grey tom didn't react at first, but after a few moments he began to stir.

"W-where are we?" he stammered, slowly clambering to his paws, his gaze fell upon the two cats, "Who are they?"

"Floss and Smoky," the muscular grey-and-white tom meowed, nodding to himself and the she-cat beside him. Amberpaw in the meanwhile was waking Snowpaw. The snow-furred tom was in such a deep sleep that she literally had to shake him awake.

When he finally did awaken, he was just as confused as Dewpaw was, "W-where? W-what? How?" he stumbled over his words as his amber eyes darted around their unfamiliar surroundings.

Amberpaw nodded to Floss, preferring the grey-and-white she-cat to explain the situation rather than herself. The grey-and-white she-cat dipped her head to the apprentice, "I'm Floss, this is Smoky," she began, obviously getting a little bored of introducing herself, "And this is our barn!"

Snowpaw stared at the two cats blankly, "So, how did we end up here?" he asked, amber eyes flooding with confusion.

Amberpaw cut in before Floss could reply, "They found us asleep early this morning," she meowed bluntly, not wanting to drag on with a long tale. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable in this enclosed space; it wasn't natural for cats to live like this!

"Why were you out in the cold?" Smoky enquired, tilting his head, "I though clans stuck together under that code of warriors thing?"

"Well, you see"- Dewpaw began but was cut off when Amberpaw shoved her tail in front of his mouth, _We can't tell Smoky and Floss, what if they tell the clans?_

Snowpaw gazed at his two littermates thoughtfully before mewing, "We can tell them, it's not like they're clan cats and they're unlikely to be meeting clan cats."

Amberpaw sighed, "I guess," her expectant amber gaze fell upon Dewpaw once more, beckoning with a gentle flick of her tail that he could speak again.

A little put off by having his sister's tail in his mouth, Dewpaw continued, "StarClan sent us a prophecy telling us that we had to return the fifth clan, SkyClan to the lake. They live near the old forest and were driven out to the gorge in ancient times. Firestar and Sandstorm regrouped them though, in the gorge."

Floss and Smoky exchanged confused glances, "StarClan? SkyClan? The old forest? Fire star and a sand storm?"

Amberpaw couldn't help but laugh. The two cats were obviously clueless about what they were talking about and so Amberpaw told them the whole story again in 'dum-speak'.

After that they looked much less confused, "So wait, you have to go on a long journey to find a long lost clan in some unknown place and then return them to the lake again?" Floss asked.

Amberpaw and her littermates nodded in unison. A high-pitched squeal erupted from behind one of the hay bales and instantly Smoky stiffened.

"If you'll excuse me," Floss mewed hurriedly, disappearing behind hay and straw to hush the wailing kit.

"Kits!" Amberpaw mewed brightly when the mother returned, "May I see them?"

Smoky looked very uncomfortable at her request, but Floss seemed much more relaxed and nodded, "Sure, ignore him," she nodded to her mate, "He doesn't like cats visiting the barn."

She beckoned for the grey-and-white apprentice to follow her around to the nest in the straw. And there they lay, seven kits.

"Seven kits!" she squealed in disbelief, "That's a"- she swallowed, "That's a lot of kits," each kit was tucked into the soft hay and straw. They wriggled restlessly in their nests, sensing the presence of a new cat.

Floss lay her tail on the nearest kit, "This is Willow," she told her, she nodded to the next kit, "This is Poppy, Stripe, Spots, Apple, Nutmeg and Oak," she nodded to each kit in turn.

"They're so cute!" Amberpaw meowed loudly, a small smile creeping upon her face, "I'd like to have kits when I'm older."

Floss let her unsure gaze run over the grey-and-white apprentice, "Aren't you a bit young? You're scarcely older than a kit yourself."

"I'm not a kit," Amberpaw mewed defensively, but forcing her fur to lie flat, "I'm almost a warrior, just a moon away actually!" she looked away from the mother.

"Are you sure they'll make you a warrior after you abandoned the clan?" Floss pointed out, her gaze falling upon her kits again. She made sure each one was settled before looking up at the ThunderClan apprentice again.

Amberpaw's heart sank, _what if Bramblestar doesn't make me a warrior?_ She shook away the thoughts and tried to think positive, _He has to! We will have saved a clan, SkyClan!_

_"And if you don't?"_ a small voice in her head whispered. Amberpaw cleared her mind, ignoring the little voice, _that won't happen, _she told herself determinedly.

"Our leader _will_ make us warriors," she meowed to Floss confidently, "He will."

Floss looked a little doubtful, buy didn't continue on the subjects. She touched each kit reassuringly before making her way back to her mate and Amberpaw's littermate were waiting.

Amberpaw let her gaze rest on the kits one last time before bounding after the grey-and-white she-cat and settling herself next to Snowpaw.

"You should rest here," Floss suddenly meowed, "Just for the day I mean," her unsure amber gaze flitted over the three apprentices, "You look exhausted."

Amberpaw nodded slowly, glancing at her littermates for guidance. _Just a day, there's plenty of prey here; mice, I can scent them. This might be the last place where hunting prey is easy._

"That would be alright, wouldn't it?" Snowpaw asked, tilting his head to one side, amber eyes glittering.

Floss nodded, "Of course, wouldn't it Smoky?" she meowed, nodding to the muscular grey-and-white tom beside her.

Smoky forced his neck fur to lie flat and smiled, nuzzling his mate gently, "O-of course," he stammered, trying to sound a little friendlier than earlier. He was a good-hearted cat, he just really wasn't all that keen on having visitors in the barn whilst Floss was nursing her kits; they were just over a half-moon old now.

Snowpaw gave a grateful nod, "Would it alright if we hunted? We could catch something for yourselves and your kits if you like?" he offered, nodding his head to his littermates.

"We're quite capable of hunting to feed ourselves," Smoky meowed, but Floss shook her head at his mew.

"That would be wonderful," she mewed softly to the three apprentices. She took a step closer to Smoky and rubbed up against him affectionately, "Kits; they take up so much time and effort, but they're definitely worth it," she whispered, before returning to tend to her kits.

Amberpaw dipped her head to Smoky, "Thank you," she mewed politely before disappearing into the hay. _There's so much prey here, so many mice!_ She thought to herself, delighted.

The grey-and-white apprentice quickly located a nest of mice amongst the straw; the high-pitched squeaks of their young easily distinguishable to the sharp ears of a cat like Amberpaw.

She dropped into a hunting crouch, keeping low so that her belly almost pressed against the soft hay covered ground. She made sure her tail was low, but not dragging against the floor and made sure she looked straight ahead. Amberpaw stalked forwards, amber eyes alert as she drew close to the nest.

When she reached a tail-length away from the nest, she stopped. The nest was hidden in the straw, she would have to leap through it to reach it.

The grey-and-white she-cat took a deep, steady breath and crouched low. Power surged through her muscles as she waited for the right moment to pounce.

_Three, two, one!_

Amberpaw jumped, leaping through the straw onto the nest of oblivious mice. She killed several in one blow and then the cowering young mice left in the nest were too shocked to move. Amberpaw killed two of them, but left three living.

_We don't want the mice to die out, otherwise there will be no prey._ Amberpaw picked up the limp bodies in her jaws and padded back to where Floss and Smoky were waiting. She dropped the mice at their paws, "Here," she meowed, nudging the three mice towards then and taking two for herself.

Floss purred gratefully, "Usually the nofurs feed us," she explained, "So mice will be a nice change," she picked up one of the adult mice and began to devour it.

Smoky took the other one, leaving the last mouse for his mate to have, "Thank you," he meowed, dipping his head. He was honestly grateful.

Amberpaw watched as the two mates ate their mice, but decided to wait for her littermates to return before she tucked into her catches. _Two plump mice, they should be nice._

It was a few moments later that Dewpaw returned, two mice dangling from his jaws. Upon seeing that the two horseplace cats already had a meal, he settled beside his sister, gently setting down the prey in the straw.

"Have you seen Snowpaw?" Amberpaw asked hopefully, "There's loads of prey here and he's taking a while, he shouldn't be having trouble hunting."

Dewpaw shook his head, "No, sorry," his amber gaze fell down to his two mice, "You don't mind if I start do you? These are getting cold and"-

"Sure, sure," Amberpaw meowed, flicking her tail dismissively. Dewpaw purred and began to gulp down the mice greedily.

It was a few more moments before Snowpaw returned. The tom was very pleased with himself and it wasn't until Amberpaw spotted the prey dangling from his jaws that she understood why, "Look what I found up there!" he meowed brightly, nodding up to the roof of the barn as he set down on straw a large fluffy bird. It was, unmistakeably, a baby owl.

**Seedflight's P.O.V.**

It felt rather eerie in camp that morning. Seedflight awoke to the rising of the sun as always, but something felt different in the hollow, but she couldn't put a paw on what it was.

The pale ginger she-cat yawned wearily, spotting the rising and falling of her sister's dark brown tabby and white pelt as she continued to sleep. She stretched briefly before nudging her sister awake, "Dawn patrol, remember," she whispered to her littermate.

Lilystream jumped awake, amber eyes flashing with alarm, "Oh StarClan! I completely forgot!" she exclaimed upon realising it was just after dawn. She dashed out of the den in an attempt to try and catch up with the departing patrol. Seedflight let out a purr of amusement before following in her sister's trail, except at a slightly slower pace.

Stepping out into the hollow, she realised with a sigh that the sky was clouded. _I was hoping for a nice warm sunny day to warm my pelt, but oh, well. I'll make do._

"Hey, Seedflight!" the very pale ginger warrior looked up to see Birchfall calling her over. The pale brown tabby warrior appeared to be preparing to leave camp.

"What is it?" she asked, padding over, green eyes glittering with concern.

Birchfall smiled brightly, "Oh, it's nothing serious," he reassured the young warrior, "I'm just going out hunting," he meowed, nodding to the thorn barrier, "I was wondering if you could go and wake Dewpaw for me and tell him where I've gone, if he could be ready for training upon my return, that would be great," he finished, glancing over at the Apprentices' Den.

Seedflight nodded, "Sure, sure," her green eyes wandered over to the Apprentices' Den, "Anything special planned for today's training session?" she asked, "Because, I might join you, seeing as I don't have any other duties to attend to at the moment."

"We're doing more battle training today," he told her, "Preparing for Dewpaw's warrior assessment, it's not long now until Bramblestar makes them warriors and although we didn't get up on the best start, Dewpaw is turning into a fine cat, an exceptional fighter," he ran his gaze over Seedflight, "If you did join us, you don't suppose you'd mind being Dewpaw's opponent, he could do with having someone else to fight who's not one of his littermates or I, a challenge?"

Seedflight purred, "Of course, although I'm not great at fighting, I'll give it a go."

Birchfall smiled brightly, "Perfect," he began to pad towards the thorn barrier, "I'll see you later then."

The young warrior dipped her head to the warrior, watching as he disappeared out of the hollow before bounding over to the Apprentices' Den.

She peered into the dark, searching for the three apprentices' sleeping forms. Despite being told to seek out Birchfall's apprentice, Dewpaw, she found herself searching out a snowy-white pelt in the darkness.

"Dewpaw!" she meowed, rather loudly and forcing herself to concentrate on the set task, "You need to get up! Birchfall's gone out hunting but he wants you to be ready to leave when he gets back!"

She waited a few moments. No response. Seedflight frowned and stepped into the den, searching around for any of the three apprentices. All three nests were empty, _they're not here; none of them are._

She sniffed each nest in turn, _Their scents are stale, they didn't sleep here last night._ The young warrior rose to her paws, _where could they be? Perhaps they're in trouble? Oh StarClan, please say Snowpaw's all right!_

Seedflight shook away her worried thoughts and exited the den. Her green gaze sought out Bramblestar from where he was resting on the Highledge.

"Bramblestar," she meowed loudly, "May I speak with you?"

"Let _all_ cats gather below the highledge for a clan meeting!" Bramblestar yowled from the Highledge. Seedflight was already settled below the dark brown tom and awaited his words. She had told him about the missing apprentices and their stale scents and now the ThunderClan leader was calling a clan meeting about the situation.

ThunderClan gathered quickly, obviously wondering what the meeting was about. Cinderheart's kits were only five moons, not yet old enough to be apprentices and the three apprentices still had about a moon of training left, so what could be the subject of this clan meeting? And the fact that _all_ cats were invited, including the kits, signified that it was important, unless he'd just forgotten the last words of the phrase used to call the clan together.

"We are gathered today," Bramblestar began, "Because Snowpaw, Amberpaw and Dewpaw have gone missing."

The dark brown tabby's words hung in the air for a moment before anyone else dared speak. It was then that the worried murmurs and shocked yowls broke out.

"My kits, my kits, gone!" Brightheart was beside herself with worry, "What if they got taken by a fox or a badger?"

"No, this can't be! Amberpaw was my best friend," Lilystream exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief at what Bramblestar had just announced.

The ThunderClan leader flicked his tail to try and get the cats to calm down, "The apprentices' nests were found empty this morning, their scents stale, their nests weren't slept in last night," he continued, "We don't know what has happened to them, let's just hope they went out late night hunting. Although, if anyone knows anything about their disappearances, don't hesitate to tell me."

Hushed murmurs were passed about, shocked looks exchanged, until a tiny voice spoke up from above the crowd.

"I know what happened."

The hollow fell silent as cats stepped apart to reveal the speaker of the words. It was a tiny dark brown-and-white tabby tom kit with large, amber eyes. Finchkit, Bramblestar and Squirrelflight's son.

Bramblestar stared at his son in disbelief for a moment before speaking, "Yes, Finchkit?"

The tiny tom kit took a deep breath, his unblinking amber gaze sweeping over the clan, "Last night I couldn't sleep, I was staring out of the den because I wanted to try fresh-kill and then I heard whispers from the Apprentices' den."

Seedflight listened anxiously, green eyes wide as she awaited the young kit's next words, _he's awfully mature for his age,_ she noted to herself.

Finchkit continued, "They emerged from the den, muttering to each other stuff about being sad about leaving," he paused, "And then the white one said that it was time to leave and they disappeared out of the camp."

All was silent as the cats tried to contemplate what the dark tabby-and-white kit had just said. It was after a few heartbeats that a voice rung out loud and clear, "Traitors!"

Several cats joined the lone voice until the hollow rung with the voice of cats, "Traitors! They left their clan!"

Half of the clan were chanting now and Seedflight stared down at her paws sadly, _They're not traitors, Snowpaw would never desert his clan, I know he wouldn't._


	5. Chapter Four: Making Ground

**Sorry for the long update time! Anyway, I'll be including interesting facts in each chapter from now on, so without further ado, today's interesting fact: ... This chapter was originally never going to exist! I was going to skip ahead straight to Twolegplace, but then I thought I'd have a last slow chapter, mainly based around their feelings, so here you are! An extra chapter.**

**Snowpaw: As Leafsplash's official disclaimer, I can tell you that Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan does not-**

**Amberpaw: Own Warriors! Ha! Beat you to it!**

**Snowpaw: -jaw drops- Noooooooo. You stole my thunder!**

**Me: Whilst those two argue, let me get on with the review replies.**

**Orangeflight Of ShadowClan - I think I'm just going to call you Orange from now on, to make things easier. Anyway... Amberpaw has certainly fallen for Molespots, but he hasn't. The journey may/may not make him realise that actually he does/doesn't have feelings for her, which may not actually happen. xD No spoilers here. :3**

**Hannah - Ha ha, yes I know. But kittypets, which technically the horseplace cats are because the twolegs feed them, often have big litters. It's not uncommon for a cat to have 12 kittens even!**

**Raggedstar 3 - xD I love Seedflight, I don't think I'm going to have her tell the clan though... I want the clan to think them traitors when they return because of a major part of the plot that I can't yet reveal... xD**

**icefire - xD Yes, I was aiming for Smoky to be like that so glad to hear I was successful. And thanks, I'm probably going to do a piece for when Seedflight and Snowpaw shared a nest in the medicine cat's den. That should be cute. 3**

**Anyway, here ya go! Read and review! Oh, and if you're a silent reader, please do review, just to let me know what you think, I love to hear feedback, good or bad. :3**

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**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

It was dawn when Dewpaw awoke. Belly full with mice and perfectly content, he lay in the straw for a moment, savouring the moment, before rising. Although he didn't like the unnatural walls that towered over them, Dewpaw was beginning to like the horseplace, mainly because of the abundance of prey.

Today they would be actually leaving the lake territories themselves, today they would be heading towards Twolegplace to continue with their journey. The dark grey tom couldn't wait to get out of the barn, although admittedly, he would miss Smoky and Floss.

They had rested for a day longer than they had originally had planned, but as far as Dewpaw was concerned, a day longer didn't matter too much. He felt much stronger and with a full belly, the journey ahead didn't worry him too much. He knew it would be difficult, but nothing they couldn't handle, _right?_

After all, they were ThunderClan apprentices, almost warriors even. He wandered over to where Amberpaw slept and woke her, "It's time to leave," he murmured, amber gaze flitting over to where Floss and Smoky were curled up with their kits.

Amberpaw blinked drowsily up at her brother, slowly rising to her paws, "I don't think I've ever slept so well," she muttered to herself, stretching out in the straw. Snowpaw was already awake by the looks of it as his nest was empty, _probably catching some prey quickly._

To confirm his thoughts, Snowpaw came trotting out from behind a hay bale, three mice hanging from his jaws, "Here," he meowed, dropping one at each of their paws, "We need to be strong for the journey."

Dewpaw nodded and began to gulp down the plump brown mouse. Amberpaw ate hers a lot more politely, gently picking at her own mouse. Snowpaw had obviously eaten already and was carrying the third and final mouse over to the sleeping Floss and Smoky.

Upon finishing his mouse, Dewpaw jumped to his paws once more. Snowpaw had woken Floss and Smoky and the mates were tucking in on the mouse gratefully. The dark grey tom padded over to Snowpaw, "We should get going soon, the earlier we start out, the further we'll get," he whispered.

Snowpaw nodded, eyeing Floss and Smoky as they munched on the mouse. He nodded to Amberpaw, who had just finished her own prey. The grey-and-white apprentice smiled, rising to her paws and bounding over to greet them.

Dewpaw cleared his throat, "Smoky, Floss," the mates looked up, clearly guessing what the dark grey apprentice was about to say, "Thank you for your hospitality, but it's time for us to leave."

Both nodded understandingly and two of the kits bounded over to Snowpaw's paws, "We want to come with you!" the largest one, a smoky grey she-cat by the name of Willow, begged.

"Yeah!" A pale grey tabby, Oak, piped up, "The clans sound awesome."

Snowpaw touched noses to the two kits in turn, "Our destiny calls us; we must find SkyClan before we even think about returning home to ThunderClan, you can't come, I'm sorry."

Willow stared up at the snowy-white tom with pleading green eyes, "Please with mice tails on top!" she nudged Oak, "We could be great warriors, we would fight and fight and fight!"

Snowpaw snorted, "Being a warrior isn't just about the fighting," he meowed gently. _Well, yes, _Dewpaw thought to himself, _But it's the best part!_

Amberpaw nudged Snowpaw, "It's time to go," Dewpaw heard her whisper. The snowy-furred tom nodded in agreement, glancing down at the two kits at his paws, then Floss, Smoky and the rest of the litter.

"We really need to go now," Dewpaw mewed impatiently, nodding to the two horseplace cats. He flicked a scrap of straw off his dark grey pelt and headed for the large, oddly perfectly shaped, hole in the wall that led to the outside world.

"Sorry about him," Snowpaw apologised, padding towards his brother a little and glancing over his shoulder at Amberpaw and the others, "Thanks again, for everything."

Amberpaw dipped her head to the cats and followed her brother over to Dewpaw, "Come on," the dark grey tom meowed, nodding to the world outside, "Let's go."

Snowpaw gave a heavy sigh and nodded. Dewpaw smiled triumphantly and casting a final glance at the horseplace cats before bounding out into the daylight.

The feeling of light on his fur immediately made him purr. Admittedly, it wasn't much of a sunny day, nor a warm one, but it felt great being outside once more. He savoured the feeling of the breeze gently ruffling his pelt before turning to his littermates.

"The Twolegplace is that way," Amberpaw meowed, nodding her head to the right of where the mountains towered over them, casting long shadows, "We should try and cover as much ground as possible today to make up for that extra day of rest."

Both Snowpaw and Dewpaw nodded before the dark grey tom took the lead and began to pad ahead at swift pace in an attempt to put ground between his littermates and himself. Dewpaw had spent the last two days cooped up in a barn with his brother and sister and he needed a little space just to get away from them.

They were crossing unclaimed territory right now, though it wasn't far at all to RiverClan. He let his amber gaze sweep over the lake, just a glittering expanse of water in the distance now.

He tore his eyes away from it and concentrated on the path ahead. They had already discussed the problem of bringing back SkyClan and decided that they would return through the mountains rather than the Twolegplace. Dewpaw didn't want to go through Twolegplace at all, he had suggested they make both journeys through the mountains but his suggestion was ignored.

The dark grey tom scuffed his paw on a pebble and hissed to himself in annoyance. He shook his paw off and continued, trying to continue pretending it hadn't happened, but Snowpaw's eager eyes had noticed.

"Tripping over your own paws again?" he asked, amber eyes sparkling with amusement as he bounded over to catch up with his brother and give him a playful nudge.

Dewpaw ignored him, not meeting his brother's excited eyes. The white tom never seemed to quite get when you wanted to be by yourself for a while.

"Back to your grumpy self again I see?"

Dewpaw glared at the snowy-white tom, but again, didn't speak. Snowpaw seemed to get the message that the dark grey tom didn't want company and with a flick of his tail, bounded back to Amberpaw's side.

Dewpaw let out a little sigh of relief; Snowpaw and Amberpaw always seemed to be so full of energy and enthusiasm, it tired him just being around them.

_"Patience, Dewpaw. If you are to succeed in this quest, you must have patience."_ The soft, gentle voice of Honeyfern sounded in his ears and he stiffened for a moment. He was still getting used to this whole 'StarClan warrior guardian' thing.

"Well, it's hard to be patient with those two, they're such a pain in the tail, all eager and enthusiastic," he hissed under his breath, his mutter scarcely audible.

_"I'm sure they think you're a pain in the tail," _Honeyfern whispered softly and for a moment the dark grey tom felt a pelt brush against his. Dewpaw let out an annoyed grumble, _she wasn't supposed to hear that!_

He didn't respond in the hope that the StarClan warrior would leave him be. Sure enough, Honeyfern's scent began to fade and Dewpaw found himself alone again. _Well, sort of._

Amberpaw and Snowpaw were still with him, a few pawsteps behind, chatting away like birds. He rolled his eyes, _how can they be so carefree? We might never return from this journey…_

**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

Amberpaw may be putting on a brave face, but deep down she was worried to death about the journey ahead. There were so many questions she wanted to ask StarClan, _Why us? Why are SkyClan in danger? Will we even be able to find them?_

The thoughts buzzed around her head like a pesky fly and for a moment she had to pause to rid her mind of the questions and focus on the task ahead.

"Are you ok?"

Amberpaw looked up at Snowpaw's mew and nodded, "Yes, yes I'm fine," she mewed, looking away from his searching amber gaze, "Just a little worried about the journey ahead."

Snowpaw gave her an affectionate nudge, "We _all_ are," he meowed reassuringly, "It's within reason, just try not to think about it too much."

The grey-and-white she-cat nodded slowly, letting the questions wash away and instead focusing on what she was doing. They had been travelling for how long now?

She glanced up at the sky in the hope that the sun would be peeking out from the darkening clouds, but no, it was still hidden away; watching, but not quite making its presence known.

"They'll have found out about us leaving now," Amberpaw murmured thoughtfully, amber gaze distant, "I wonder what they think of it, they might think us dead."

Snowpaw stared at her for a moment, "I shouldn't think so," he replied after a while, "They'll probably think we've deserted the clan to be rogues or kittypets or something."

Amberpaw's eyes stretched wide in horror, "_Kittypets?_ I'd _never_ be a kittypet," she turned up her nose at the thought, "Inside all day, only eating food that looks like rabbit droppings, where an itchy twoleg thing around your neck; that's no life."

Snowpaw's eyes flashed with knowledge for a moment before he could no longer hold his sister's gaze and looked away, not uttering so much as a word. Amberpaw frowned, _he's keeping a secret._ She studied the white tom for a moment before meowing, "What is it you're hiding?"

Snowpaw gave a sigh, not quite meeting Amberpaw's bright amber eyes, "Kittypets," he muttered distantly, he glanced around for a moment, "You know Cherryflower's kits?"

Amberpaw nodded slowly, wondering what on earth Snowpaw was on about, "Yes, of course, Redkit and Lakekit."

The white tom took a deep breath, "When I was in the medicine cat's den, I overheard Molespots and Cherryflower talking."

The grey-and-white she-cat pricked up her ears at the thought before forcing them to lie flat, _he doesn't feel the same way as I do about him,_ she thought with a sigh.

Snowpaw frowned for a moment before continuing, "She said," he took a deep breath, "She told him who was the father of the kits, it was a… a kittypet."

Amberpaw stared at him, eyes wide, "A kittypet," she echoed, "But, but that's against the warrior code!"

The snowy-white apprentice nodded, "I-I know," he meowed solemnly, amber gaze restless, "I was going to tell Bramblestar, but it felt wrong, it"- he broke off.

Amberpaw nodded understandingly, "Only bad things come out of breaking the warrior code," she meowed thoughtfully, "Someone will find out at some point, no secrets stay secrets forever."

They managed to make a decent amount of ground that day. They decided to rest early in a small hollow bramble thicket that overlooked the lake territory. It was a golden sunset, the sky was a deep amber and the sun a burning ball of red.

"This might be the last we see of the lake," Dewpaw murmured wistfully, gazing fondly down at the place he had been born and raised in. Amberpaw nodded in agreement; she may be half-kittypet, but she couldn't imagine _ever_ being one, she loved ThunderClan and couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

"Do you want to hunt with me?" Snowpaw asked, padding out from their temporary home. He had just been collecting moss for their nests, the result of this being several scraps of moss that clung to his otherwise snowy white pelt.

"Uh, sure," Amberpaw meowed rising to her paws, "Dewpaw do you want to"-

"Nah," the dark grey tom cut in, "I'll keep an eye on things here," his amber gaze stretched to the bramble thicket, "We don't want anyone stealing our den."

"It's just temporary," Snowpaw pointed out, "I'm sure if you hunt with us nothing will happen to it."

The dark grey apprentice still didn't look convinced, "Better to be safe than sorry," he meowed, padding into the temporary den and settling down in the centre, amber gaze alert.

"Let's go then," Snowpaw meowed, casting a last glance back at the bramble thicket before bounding ahead and leaping through the undergrowth.

The grey-and-white apprentice smiled to herself for a moment before racing after her brother. She quickly caught up with the white-furred apprentice, who appeared to have scented something.

"Mouse!" he hissed, beckoning with his tail for Amberpaw to be silent, "In the undergrowth."

Amberpaw nodded and took a step back, watching as her brother skulked forwards in a hunter's crouch. He slipped through the undergrowth and out of view. Amberpaw pricked her ear, waiting for the sound of the kill.

Sure enough, the sound of a startled mouse reached her keen ears and she smiled to herself. It was then the sound of a sparrow's call beat against her eardrum.

Amberpaw gave a soft purr, sitting up and scenting the air to find the bird's whereabouts. The scent, and its song, appeared to be coming from deeper in the grove of trees.

Grinning, she took a deep breath, before taking off in that direction, only the taste of freshly killed sparrow on her mind.

The hunt was successful, Snowpaw and Amberpaw returned to Dewpaw, jaws laden with prey. Snowpaw had a mouse and a chaffinch whilst his sister bore a single sparrow. She had been very close to catching a pigeon, but her tail rustled some leaves and alerted the prey just before she pounced.

It was enough to feed the three apprentices, easily. Amberpaw wasn't particularly hungry anyway, only eating half of her sparrow, leaving the rest to Dewpaw, who gulped it down greedily.

Instead, she spent the last moments of daylight gazing down at the lake. ThunderClan was just a swath of dark green in the distance and for a moment, Amberpaw wondered if they were missing her as much as she missed them. She knew Seedflight would certainly miss Snowpaw, it was obvious that she had taken a liking to her brother and Amberpaw was almost positive Snowpaw returned the feelings.

In fact, rumours had been spreading around camp that the two had shared a nest when the white apprentice had been in the medicine cat den. _Well, we know who he's going to take as his mate when he becomes a warrior._

The grey-and-white she-cat gave a sigh, _If only Molespots felt the same as I do about him._ Amberpaw wasn't sure when her feelings for the brown-and-cream tom had first developed, perhaps it was when he saved her from falling in the lake at her first gathering? She hadn't really noticed him up to that point.

Another sigh slipped her jaws as the last of the light began to fade. _Well, best get my rest,_ she decided, slowly rising to her paws, her mood slightly dampened.

When she returned to the den, Dewpaw and Snowpaw were already inside, attempting to get to sleep.

"There you are!" Snowpaw meowed brightly, sitting up a little in his nest.

Amberpaw nodded a greeting, but didn't speak. Instead, she took up a small nest near the entrance immediately to find her pelt prickling with displeasure when she sunk into the mossy bedding, "StarClan, where did you get this moss Snowpaw? It's as prickly as a hedgehog's back!"

"Finally!" Dewpaw's mew arose from his nest, "Someone who agrees! I've been trying to sleep for ages and this bedding isn't exactly helping."

"Hey!" Snowpaw protested, joining their conversation, "This was the only moss I could find!" he turned up his nose, looking away from his brother and sister, "It's only for a night, be thankful we actually _have_ moss."

Dewpaw gave an inaudible grumble, but settled until his nest. Amberpaw did the same, without the grumble. No further words were spoken, just the sound of the breeze rushing through the branches of the twisted oaks outside and the gentle swaying of the bramble thicket.

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**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please read and review!**

**Leafsplash, over and out! -salutes and poofs-**


	6. Chapter Five: Twolegplace

**A short chapter, yes I know. But if I hadn't ended it where I did, it wouldn't be a cliffhanger. -grins evily- This chapter is dramatic.**

**Interesting fact: Originally, Rapidpaw was called Redpaw and was a she-cat and his sister, Rainpaw, was a tom. xD**

**Anyway, on to review replies. :3**

**Hannah - Perhaps, but something along that lines will be happening to another character... Thanks. ^^**

**Orange - Aww, really? I'm touched. :') I'd love to be an Erin Hunter, but I doubt that would happen because I also want to be a professional horse rider so that wouldn't really fit in. xD**

**icefire - He he. :D I love kits. MolexAmber is really cute. :3**

**Raggedstar 3 - Thanks for letting me know. :) I often miss things, like when I proofread, I sometimes get distracted and miss a paragraph or something. Thank you again! :D**

**Anyway, this cliffhanger should encourage people to review quickly. xD**

**Seedflight: Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan does not own Warriors, Erin Hunter does.**

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**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

Snowpaw awoke late that morning. Both his littermates were already awake. Dewpaw was pacing up and down outside the bramble thicket anxiously whilst Amberpaw was finishing off a small mouse a few tail-lengths away.

"Good morning," the ThunderClan she-cat meowed brightly, but there was a tinge of sadness and worry evident in her tone. After finishing her meal, she gave a quick smile before exiting the den to deposit the remains of the mouse, just a few small bones.

Snowpaw forced a smile, despite feeling slightly sick with worry inside about the journey ahead. Stretching in his prickly moss nest for a few brief moments, he eventually rose and padded outside.

It was a cloudy day, the air was light with drizzle. The white tom gave a sigh, approaching Dewpaw, who's pelt was slightly sodden due to the light rain and clung against his muscular frame.

"You've finally woken up then," Dewpaw acknowledged his brother's presence with a meow, but he didn't quite meet Snowpaw's amber gaze, "I thought we could set off soon."

Snowpaw nodded in agreement, though he didn't respond otherwise. His tired eyes flitted to the valley below, to the lake and finally to the forest where ThunderClan resided. Where Seedflight was.

He couldn't get the pale ginger she-cat out of his mind. Her soft fur, her bright, forest-green eyes, her voice, sweet and soothing, like honey. He shook away the thoughts, _focus, Snowpaw, focus,_ he told himself harshly.

Luckily, he was quickly distracted by Amberpaw bounding over to him. The grey-and-white she-cat had a sparrow swinging from her jaws, "I caught this earlier," she told him, her mew muffled by the mass of feathers, "You can have it, I've already eaten."

Snowpaw gave a grateful nod, "Thanks," he meowed, gently taking the sparrow from his sister. Amberpaw smiled warmly before darting away to converse with Dewpaw, who's pacing was starting to annoy Snowpaw. The snowy-coloured tom watched as she left before tucking into his bird.

Admittedly, Snowpaw wasn't that hungry, but he ate the sparrow anyway, wolfing it down so that the group could get moving as soon as possible. He swiped his tongue around his jaws afterwards, savouring the sweet taste of freshly killed sparrow, before discarding the remains underneath a nearby oak tree. Amberpaw and Dewpaw were in deep conversation, a very serious one by the looks of it.

"What're you talking about?" Snowpaw asked suspiciously, padding over to join his littermates. There was silence for a moment, a great hush before anyone spoke.

"We were wondering," Amberpaw began, "If we'd meet Ravenpaw and Barley, you know, the two loners that Greystripe told us about?"

Snowpaw stared at them blankly for a moment. The two had looked like they had been talking about something so serious, yet it was just about whether they'd see some cats told of by the elders in stories.

"I doubt they still live," the white apprentice meowed, accompanied by a brief roll of his amber eyes, "We should probably get going," his amber gaze rose to the clouded grey sky above.

A heavy drop of rain landed on his muzzle and he shook away the moisture immediately. The rain was growing thicker, soaking his already damp white fur. The problem with having long fur, which neither Dewpaw or Amberpaw had to experience as they had inherited their mother's pelt, was that when it got wet, it became really heavy, causing some difficulty in walking at a normal pace.

"I guess," Dewpaw replied, glancing behind him briefly at the bramble thicket that had sheltered them the night before. He shifted uncomfortably for a few moments before all eyes landed on Amberpaw.

The grey-and-white she-cat hesitated for a heartbeat, before meowing, "Okay then," she got to her paws, "Let's get going."

Snowpaw smiled nervously, jumping to his paws and padding forward to stand beside his sister. Dewpaw, clearly a little put off by the heavy rain, fell in beside the pair of them and after a final glance behind them at the lake, they set off.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long to reach Twolegplace. They had set off at a slow, but steady pace and now, just after sunhigh, they had reached their destination.

On the edge of the mass of Twoleg nests, Snowpaw felt uneasy. Dewpaw looked rather amused by the twolegs' attempt to build themselves a great big camp, whilst Amberpaw seemed just as nervous as him and was trembling a little.

"Do we really have to go this way?" Snowpaw asked, eyeing the tall red stone nests, tall fences and strips of bright green grass, "Isn't there a way around it?"

"I told you we should have gone through the mountains," Dewpaw retorted, turning up his nose at the stench that arose from the Twolegplace. Snowpaw sighed, his brother had tried to convince them to take the alternative route, but rather ironically, Snowpaw wasn't all that keen on snow and so trekking through the mountains, up to his belly in snow, didn't tempt him at all.

"Come on then," Snowpaw mewed after a while, his chest heaving as he gave a sigh. He took the lead and stepped onto an oddly shaped flat grey stone that, together with may other stones of exactly the same size and shape, paved the ground before them. The occasional blade of grass poked up through the slabs of stone and Snowpaw sniffed it curiously, instantly wrinkling up his nose in disgust, "_What_ is that?"

Amberpaw took the step after him and flicked her tail to the wide dark grey path that ran alongside the flat grey stones. It had stripes down the middle, rather oddly, and Snowpaw realised that was where the scent was rising from, "It's a thunderpath," the grey-and-white she-cat reminded him, giving him an odd stare, "Have you not seen the disused one that runs through our territory."

"Of course," Snowpaw meowed quickly, "It's just this one's so much bigger and"- he was cut off by a deep rumbling sound. He froze, his neck fur standing up as he peered down the thunderpath. From the crest of the horizon arose a monster, its eyes glowing with harsh light in an attempt to see through the thinning fall of rain.

It growled as it grew closer and Snowpaw managed to make out the shape of twolegs inside, "It's eaten the twolegs!" he exclaimed, stiff with fright and shock.

Amberpaw's eyes stretched wide and she took a step back. Dewpaw watched, neither worried or bothered by the strange creature. It rumbled past, splashing murky, strange-smelling water onto the unassuming Snowpaw who was closest to the edge of the Thunderpath of the three littermates.

Instead, Dewpaw seemed rather intrigued by the monsters, watching them curiously as they continued to roll past. Snowpaw stared at him, shivering with a mixture of cold and fear. His pelt dripped with the strange liquid that the monster had splashed onto his pelt.

It was no longer snow white, nor even a pale grey, but a dark grey colour with splashes of black and completely soaking wet. In his bedraggled state, Snowpaw just stared blankly back at his littermates before finally contemplating what had just happened.

"We need to find shelter for the night," he hissed, shaking his pelt in an attempt to rid himself of the strange liquid, but failing rather miserably.

Dewpaw nodded in agreement, eyes glittering with amusement at his brother's sodden state, "We'll have to cross the thunderpath and get deeper into Twolegplace, there's bound to be some abandoned monster nests or twoleg nests."

Snowpaw stared at his brother, amber eyes swimming with disgust, "Monster nests? Twoleg nests? Are you mad? I've already been much closer to a monster than I ever wanted to."

Dewpaw looked slightly amused for a moment, before taking a step forward to stand beside his brother, "Come on, we'll cross together, when I raise the signal," he flicked his tail, "We go."

Reluctantly, Snowpaw nodded. Amberpaw, who somehow had managed to have forced a smile, also nodded, "Okay."

The three waited for a moment, watching as monsters continued to growl past, their lights glaring ahead of them. Surprisingly, none of them seemed to have noticed the three cats at the side of the thunderpath and stuck to the dark grey stone. Snowpaw shivered, keeping an eye on Dewpaw, waiting for the signal.

A blur of dark grey fur signalled them to start crossing and immediately the white apprentice lurched forwards. There was a brief gap in the constant trail of monsters and for a moment Snowpaw felt confident. He slowed his pace, smiling to see that Amberpaw and Dewpaw were keeping up.

Then came a rumble. Distant at first, but gradually growing louder and louder, a crescendo of noise. Snowpaw didn't notice it at first, he had become a little overconfident during the crossing and was casually strolling across now.

"Monster!" Dewpaw yowled, amber eyes blazing. He darted ahead, a mere tail-length away from the safety of the side of the Thunderpath. Snowpaw was jerked from his daydream which he had briefly been caught up in and was frozen with shock for a few moments. _Move, Snowpaw, you've got to move!_

He snapped to and raced ahead, realising that in his confidence, he'd fallen behind the others. He crossed onto the second part of the thunderpath, heart racing and briefly lifting upon seeing his brother reach safety.

A flurry of sodden white fur, he finally reached the other side. Snowpaw panted for a moment, heart thundering in his chest before he finally glanced back up at the thunderpath.

_No, No, No._

His sister hadn't heard Dewpaw's warning and had just noticed the monstrous beast racing towards her. Amber eyes wide with shock, Amberpaw was frozen to the spot, fur bristling with fright.

"No, Amberpaw, run!" he yowled, desperately, stepping forward to leap in and rescue her, but Dewpaw stopped him, pushing him aside.

"No," he hissed hurriedly, "Let me."

Before Snowpaw could protest, Dewpaw had darted forward to save his sister. He narrowly missed another monster which was following another path and turning off onto a slightly smaller thunderpath that was lined by tall red stone twoleg nests, unlike the one Snowpaw had just crossed.

_No, no,_ Snowpaw closed his eyes, unable to watch, heart racing so fast that he was worried that it might burst. He was about to lose both his brother and sister, _But the prophecy, I can't fulfil it myself. They can't die! I need them, they're my littermates._

He briefly opened his eyes to see that Dewpaw had reached their sister. He was trying to calm her, but Amberpaw looked absolutely terrified and just couldn't move. Dewpaw was lifting her now, upon his shoulders and-

_Screech!_

Snowpaw winced, closing his eyes. _No, no._ The rumble of the monsters was growing distant. There was a great hush and finally Snowpaw forced open his eyes. He blinked for a moment before finally letting his gaze fall to the Thunderpath.

The monster had left a trail of dust in its wake and it took a moment to see through the dim. Then the dust cleared and Snowpaw's desperate gaze sought out two cats, one grey-and-white and the other dark grey.

_There._ Near the centre of the thunderpath, crouched a dark grey tom, his head bowed. And at his paws… _StarClan, no._

At the dark grey apprentice's paws… A limp grey-and-white shape, sprawled out across the dark grey stone. It was unmoving, not a breath even stirring the soft grey and white patched fur.

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**Muahahahaa! I feel so evil! Well, read and review. :)**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**


	7. Chapter Six: Trouble

**Hey there! Sorry for the long update time, I was down at the stables quite a lot, caring for Tilly, my share horse. 3 **

**Anyway, today's interesting fact! Flamekit, daughter of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, was named after two cats; Flametail, Bramblestar's deceased nephew, and Firestar, Squirrelflight's mother. She is very similar in personality to her mother, or at least when her mother was an apprentice, before the journey. :)**

**Anyway, if you're wondering, the mini twolegs with wispy grey fur below their muzzles that wear triangular things on their heads and hold sticks that dangle into ponds, are garden gnomes. xD I just had to put them in. xDDD**

**Anyway, Snowpaw, would you do the honours!**

**Snowpaw: Of course! Leafsplash does not own Warriors, Erin Hunter does, however, she does own the banana king.**

**Me: -glares- Anyway, review replies. :)**

**Orange - He he, I feel so evil. **

**silverlightning97 - :3 I knew everyone would hate me for that. xD**

**Hannah - Don't want to give anything away so I'll just give you a sparkly rainbow mushroom on a stick. -gives- :3**

**icefire - xD **

**Raggedstar 3 - o_O I'm scared now.**

**Spottedmoth123 - He he he...**

**Raggedstar 3 (again) - xD Unfortunately I haven't seen despicable me, yet.**

**NightpantherisM - He he, I feel super evil now. **

**Anyway, read and review!**

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**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

_No, no, StarClan, no!_ The dark grey tom stared down at the body for a moment, unable to believe what had just happened. He prodded Amberpaw's side gently in the hope that she'd wake up, perhaps she was just unconscious? _Please, StarClan say she's just unconscious!_

"Amberpaw? Amberpaw, please, you can't leave me," he mewed desperately, glancing back at Snowpaw who was waiting at the side of the Thunderpath, "You can't leave _us_."

No response. There had been a great hush on the thunderpath until then, a break in the continuous roll of monsters, but Dewpaw could already hear the next one drawing closer.

Hurriedly, he picked up Amberpaw's body onto his broad-shoulders and steadily, but swiftly, he made his way to safety. No words were spoken between himself and his brother, the dark grey tom simply set down the limp body and stared at it, amber eyes flooding with grief.

"N-no," Snowpaw stammered, "This can't be true!" he began shaking Amberpaw's body, rather vigorously and Dewpaw was about to stop him when a sound arose from the limp mound of fur. Snowpaw's eyes lit up dimly with hope, _W-wait, she's not dead?_

The grey-and-white she-cat spluttered into life, her eyelids briefly fluttering open before closing again. Dewpaw thought they'd lost her again, but Snowpaw indicated the gentle rising and falling of her chest as she breathed with a flick of his tail.

"We need to find shelter so she can rest," Snowpaw meowed softly, as not to wake the grey-and-white she-cat. Whether she was asleep or unconscious, Dewpaw had absolutely no idea. He nodded, too shocked to speak.

Luckily, Snowpaw seemed to take it in himself to take charge of the situation and lifted Amberpaw upon his shoulders. Dewpaw flanked the white tom in an attempt to share the weight of the grey-and-white patched apprentice, it wasn't that she was heavy, just that Snowpaw's shoulders were quite slender and not quite as strong as Dewpaw's broad ones.

"Come on," the dark grey tom muttered, "Let's go."

They began to walk, slowly but steadily. They stuck to the shadows of the tall orange and red stone walls in the hope they wouldn't be noticed by any twolegs, or worse, dogs. The whole time, Dewpaw wouldn't admit it, but he was genuinely worried.

There was that feeling, that odd and nerve-wracking sensation, that they were being watched. On the occasion, a pebble would fall or the leaves on the few trees that dotted the flat pale grey stones that they walked would sway unnaturally and Dewpaw would be tempted to confess his worries to Snowpaw, but something inside him stopped him.

They turned off the large thunderpath onto smaller thunderpath and although neither of them would admit it, Dewpaw was starting to think that they'd gotten themselves lost, "I wish I'd listened to Purdy's tales more now," he grumbled.

"Same," Snowpaw meowed simply, his amber orbs briefly flickering towards his brother before focusing on the path ahead. Dewpaw was about to respond when he spotted something up ahead.

Walking the same path as them, a tall furless creature. It stood on its hindlegs, it forlegs hanging down it sides and swaying as it walked. It fitted all the descriptions of a twoleg.

Dewpaw's heart stopped for a moment before he managed to recover himself. He flicked his tail towards the ugly creature and hissed, "Twoleg!"

Snowpaw's amber eyes flashed with alarm for a moment before he looked away. He nodded to the tall stone wall to their right, "We need to climb that."

Dewpaw stared at his brother as if he'd grown wings, "_Climb that?_" he echoed, quite unable to believe what the white-furred tom was suggesting, "What, whilst carrying Amberpaw? How are we supposed to do that?"

Snowpaw stopped for a moment, amber eyes darting back to the twoleg, which was steadily growing closer. Dewpaw and Snowpaw hung in the shadows, which probably helped explain why the twoleg hadn't spotted them, yet.

"She's small," Snowpaw pointed out, "You're stronger than me, I climb the wall first, then you climb, carrying her by the scruff," he nodded to a tall twoleg nest in the distance, "We head in that direction, then from there we'll see if we can spot somewhere to stay for the night."

Dewpaw was about to argue, but the twoleg was drawing ever closer, so he took a deep breath and meowed, "Okay then."

Snowpaw smiled and together they lowered Amberpaw to the ground. Dewpaw stood over her protectively, but let his amber orbs dart over to where Snowpaw was preparing to make the leap. He took a run up and after taking a deep breath, he ran towards the wall.

At the last minute, he took a flying leap and landed nimbly on the top of the wall. He steadied himself for a few moments before calling down to his brother, "Come on, it's not hard."

_That's easy for you to say, I'll be carrying much more weight more than you did._ Dewpaw took a deep breath, briefly glancing sideways at the approaching twoleg and began to step backwards so that he'd have a good run up.

After he decided he'd given himself a decent stretch of space to achieve a good speed when taking his run up, he halted. He still doubted that he'd actually make it onto the wall carrying Amberpaw, but he dared not protest, at least not while they were in danger of being spotted by a twoleg.

_Three, two, one._ Dewpaw began to hurtle towards the wall, Amberpaw swaying from his jaws. _Thank StarClan she's not any bigger._

A few strides away from the wall, he leapt and for a moment he was flying. All rules of gravity were erased for that brief moment and then he was falling, _falling_.

Amberpaw was weighing him down. He scrabbled at the wall and in the heat of the moment managed to find a good grip. Summoning all his strength, he heaved himself up the wall and to Snowpaw's side.

Panting heavily to recover from his near-fall, he noticed movement from Amberpaw. An eye briefly fluttered open before closing once more and her tail flicked a little.

"She needs to rest," Snowpaw told him, shifting uncomfortably.

Dewpaw glared at him, "_Amberpaw_ needs to rest? _I'm_ the one who hauled her up a huge twoleg wall!"

Snowpaw didn't resply, just simply flicked his tail to the dark grey tom and began to pad along the top of the wall in the direction of the tall twoleg nest he had pointed out earlier.

"And he doesn't even offer to help carry Amberpaw," Dewpaw scowled. He carried Amberpaw upon his shoulders and began to dart after the white-furred tom. Thankfully, Snowpaw hadn't heard Dewpaw's grumble.

"Look," the small white tom meowed suddenly, pointing out a nearby twoleg place with a subtle flick of his plumed tail.

Dewpaw followed his brother's gesture, but couldn't quite see what he was pointing to, "What is it?" he asked, amber gaze blank.

Snowpaw sighed and pointed again, "An abandoned twoleg nest," he meowed impatiently, "We could shelter there."

Dewpaw stared at his brother in disbelief, _a twoleg nest? Is he serious?_ But the dark grey apprentice managed to stop himself protesting and instead gave an indignant sigh, "Okay, fine," he didn't meet his brother's bright amber gaze and resignedly lifted Amberpaw back onto his shoulders.

As they walked, Dewpaw was beginning to grow more and more uncomfortable. He didn't like Twolegplace, or twolegs for that matter, at all. He may have been interested in their monsters but after seeing Amberpaw's incident, he was completely put off.

This morning seemed moons away now. The sky was a fading dark grey colour and the rain was beginning to fall again, much to Dewpaw's disgust. He sighed, slowly drifting into thoughts.

They turned onto a slightly lower wall. Dewpaw's amber orbs flitted down to the small spaces that these walls enclosed. He couldn't help but feel claustrophobic looking at them.

Although they had grass, greener than Dewpaw had ever seen, they were filled with strange twoleg things. Something that featured often was a small version of a twoleg, which was about up to his underbelly in height. They were queer things and appeared to be frozen in time, many holding a stick that had a string attached to it that dangled into the small ponds that dotted the twoleg spaces.

Many of them had wispy grey fur just below their muzzles and almost all of them had a strange, red triangular object on their heads. Admittedly, Dewpaw found them a little creepy. He was worried that they would suddenly spring into life and start chasing after him.

They hadn't ventured off the wall into any of the green twolegs spaces. To make things easier, Dewpaw decided he'd call them greenspaces from now on.

But the small frozen twolegs weren't the only strange thing that inhabited the twolegs' greenspaces. Many had mini twoleg nests, that appeared to be made of bark. Many greenspaces also had dogs so he'd heard, but so far, they hadn't encountered any.

They had heard their barking and howling, but not seen so much as a whisker of them so far. It was rather queer, Dewpaw thought, they had only seen a few twolegs, no dogs and no kittypets.

_I wonder what's happened to the twolegs? Perhaps they're all asleep?_

"Uh, Dewpaw?"

Snowpaw's mew jerked the dark grey apprentice's thoughts away from him. Dewpaw stopped, let his dark amber orbs wander to his brother, who had stopped just ahead of him, "Yes?"

Snowpaw nodded to a small twoleg nest in front of them. It was the abandoned one that the white tom had pointed out to him earlier.

It was much smaller than the twoleg nests around them and there were several holes in the walls and the roof. Grass and weeds poked out from the deserted place and just looking at it made Dewpaw feel uneasy. Steadying himself he took a deep breath and glanced sideways at his brother, "Okay then, let's go."

He leapt of the wall, almost forgetting his precious cargo. He almost dropped the grey-and-white she-cat, but luckily he managed to recover her just before hitting the ground.

Snowpaw dropped down after him, unsettling the muddy ground and splashing Dewpaw's fur in a thin layer of the dark brown stuff. _Oh great, it's raining, my pelt's sodden and now covered in mud. Oh, and we're pretty much lost in Twolegplace. What a wonderful day!_

"Come on," Snowpaw meowed, flicking his tail and leading the way. He chose a small hole in the faded red stone walls of the twoleg nest and disappeared into the shadows.

Dewpaw took one finally glance up at the dark grey sky, making the most of the fading light, before leaping in after his brother. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness inside, but as soon as they did, he quickly identified Snowpaw just ahead of him, peering into the shadows.

Suddenly, the white tom froze.

"What is it?" Dewpaw hissed, heart racing a little faster. _What is it that's made Snowpaw stop? A dog or a twoleg perhaps?_

Snowpaw didn't answer for a moment before shaking his head and meowing, "Sorry, I thought I saw something."

Dewpaw nodded, relief flooding from him. He lay Amberpaw down in one of the nest corners and padded back to his brother's side. Almost immediately after joining him, Snowpaw darted away towards Amberpaw.

Dewpaw frowned, "What are you doing?" he asked, the white apprentice was examining the grey-and-white she-cat, checking her thoroughly.

"Cinderpelt has been walking my dreams, remember," Snowpaw meowed impatiently, not bothering to look up at his littermate, "I might be able to treat Amberpaw."

Dewpaw joined his brother and sniffed Amberpaw for a few seconds, "She doesn't appear to actually have any injuries," he pointed out, "Probably just unconscious."

Snowpaw gave him a hard stare, "You think you know everything, don't you?" his attention fell to his sister again, "Just because she hasn't actually got any wounds doesn't mean she's not injured, see here?" he pointed out her right hindleg, "It's dislocated, I think you just have to click it back into place, that's what Cinderpelt told me."

Dewpaw felt a little defeated and shrunk a little in embarrassment, "I'm going to hunt," he meowed briskly, his rumbling belly once again reminding him they hadn't eaten since this morning. He felt all hollow inside and his strength was beginning to fade, if they were going to make this journey, they had to be strong.

He emerged from the den, blinking in the light for a few moments before striding forwards confidently. It would be difficult finding prey here, but Dewpaw knew just how to find prey in places like this, Honeyfern had taught him.

_"Wherever there's shelter, water and a source of food, you'll find prey," _the pretty StarClan warrior had told him. And that was precisely why he was heading towards some puddles he'd seen earlier. It was a source of water, so if there was shelter and food, there was bound to be prey there.

He had just reached edge of the puddle-ridden when he heard the soft thud of pawsteps behind him. He froze, amber eyes wide. A voice sounded, sharp and hostile, "What do you think you're doing on _my _territory?"

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**Before you start saying, "Whaaat? But she died and came back to life?! That wouldn't happen!" just hear me out. The monster hitting her shocked her heart into stopping, but by shaking her (a little aggressively actually), Snowpaw managed to shock it into starting again. Like you do with those electric shock things. :3**

**Anyway, read and review!**

**Leafsplash, over and out! -flies away on a broomstick-**


	8. Chapter Seven: Help

**Sorry for the long wait guys! My week was quite busy! Anyway, next update will be sooner, I'm updating once a week now. Just for you guys, I made this chapter longer than usual. :3**

**Anyway, interesting fact time! Nettlekit, son of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, is in actual fact, a reincarnation of Ashfur! -gasp- Ironic right, that his mother is his former lover, at least from his previous life? xD Nettlekit, however, won't find out of his past until he reaches StarClan and no one but Jayfeather knows who he really is. And before you ask, no, Nettlekit won't turn evil, like Ashfur did.**

**Anyway, disclaimer, Snowpaw!**

**Snowpaw: -scurries in- Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan does not own Warriors! If she did, Honeyfern would never have died, Silverstream and Feathertail would still be alive and Lionblaze would be ThunderClan leader.**

**Me: Thank you, Snowpaw. :D**

**...Review Replies...**

**Hannah - Thanks! And you'll find out in this chappie. :3**

**Orange - He he. :3 And yes, I do have a flying broomstick. xD**

**icefire - Agreed, I hate rats, in warriors at least, I don't mind them in real life.**

**Raggedstar 3 - He he, Yay for Snowpaw!**

**Pumpkinfur - I know, it sounds odd, but it is correct. It just means there are lots of puddles in the stated area.**

**OoJayfeatheroO - Nope, it's not him. They're nowhere near SkyClan yet, they haven't yet reached where the old forest was. And thanks! :)**

**Spottedmoth123 - Thanks! :D**

**And thanks everyone for being so understanding about updating less often! :)**

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**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

Dewpaw froze, heart racing. However, he forced his neck fur to lie flat and slowly turned to face his challenger. Despite the deep voice, he found himself face to face with a cat much smaller than him. A light ginger tom with white paws and amber eyes filled with deep hatred, Dewpaw immediately relaxed, he even sniggered.

"I said," the small ginger tom hissed, clearly furious, "What are you doing on my territory?"

Dewpaw's smiled faded. Something about this tom, despite his size, told him he wasn't one to be messed with. Glaring down his challenge, the dark-furred apprentice replied smoothly, "We're just passing through."

Then he realised his mistake and slapped his tail to his mouth. The light ginger cat stared at Dewpaw, amber eyes blazing, "_We?_ You mean you've trespassed on _my_ territory with others?"

Bristling like mad, the light ginger tom leapt onto Dewpaw, claws unsheathed. Dewpaw let out a yowl of surprise, but after overcoming the initial shock, shook his challenger off easily. The dark grey tom was one of the best at fighting, he wouldn't be beaten by a tiny, incompetent rogue or whatever he was, a kittypet even.

The pale ginger tom growled, "This is _my_ territory!" he leapt onto Dewpaw again, a blur of ginger and white. Although he was a rogue and would be used to fending for himself, defending his territory and et cetera, the ginger tom was actually a rather incompetent fighter.

Dewpaw didn't manage to shake his attacker off as easily as the first time and had to roll to extract himself from the rogue's grasp, "Look," Dewpaw hissed, waiting for the ginger tom to make his next move, "We don't mean any trouble, like I said, we're just passing through."

His opponent flexed his claws in anticipation, rolling his eyes, "That's what they always say, what makes you so different?" he fixed Dewpaw with a challenging glare, "How do I know you're not going to steal my territory from me and shove me in the dirt, I may be small, but I'm not stupid and I certainly won't be falling for that old trick again."

The ThunderClan apprentice paused for a moment, _Do I dare tell him about Amberpaw?_ He took a deep breath, "I have a sister," he began, keeping his eyes on the ginger tom in case he attacked again, "And"-

"So?" the ginger rogue growled impatiently with a sharp flick of his tail, "I do, I_ did_, she's dead now," he licked his right forepaw and drew it behind his ears casually. His threat seemed to have been retracted and although he was trying to appear as though he didn't care about his dead sister, there was a flicker of change in emotion in his amber eyes. Dewpaw grinned to himself, he might just be able to talk his way out of this fight.

"My sister," he continued with a little more confidence, "She was hit by a monster, she's alive but," he paused, "She's badly injured," he let his attention shift back to the small ginger tom, "We just need shelter for the night, that's all we ask. Tomorrow we'll be gone," he flicked his tail, "It'll be like we were never here."

The rogue contemplated Dewpaw's words for a moment before giving a submissive sigh, "Fine," he snarled, showing his yellow-stained teeth. For a moment, the dark grey tom though he saw the rogue's eyes flash with _grief?_

"Thank you," Dewpaw meowed, attempting to sound a little more grateful than he really was, "I'm Dewpaw."

The rogue looked confused by his comment, "Dewpaw?" he echoed blankly, "Weird name," he looked away briefly, "I'm Titch."

Dewpaw sniggered; he could see exactly why the small ginger tom had gotten his name. Titch certainly was, well, a titch. The dark grey apprentice was bigger than him and he was an apprentice! _Well, almost a warrior._

Titch gave the dark grey tom a hard glare, "I may be small," he sniffed, turning his nose up, "But if I were you I'd stay on my good side, after all, you wouldn't want anything happening to your sister, would you?"

Dewpaw's smiled immediately disappeared. There was a brief silence before he decided to speak up, "Um, you don't suppose you know any cats that could help with my sister? You see, her leg's all"-

"I know just the cat," Titch interrupted, not quite meeting Dewpaw's gaze, "Just show me where your sister is and I'll go and find Soot," his eyes fell to the dark grey-furred tom expectantly.

Reluctantly, Dewpaw nodded. He didn't quite trust Titch, but he led the way back to the twoleg nest and darted in through one of the hole-filled walls. The soft thud of pawsteps behind him told the dark-coloured tom that Titch was following.

"Ah, the abandoned upwalkers' nest, so she's here?" Titch's mew bounced off the walls of the dirty, red stone walls. Dewpaw ignored him, bounding ahead to where Snowpaw was still tending to Amberpaw.

The white-furred ThunderClan tom glanced up at Dewpaw briefly before returning his attention to Amberpaw, "I was expecting something like a mouse or a squirrel, not company," he meowed simply, not bothering look up at his brother.

"Well, yeah," Dewpaw replied, rolling his eyes, "I wasn't exactly expecting to run into him, but Titch says he knows a cat who can help Amberpaw," he finished, sitting himself next to Snowpaw.

Snowpaw eyed Titch, who was sitting in the corner of the twoleg nest, "I am perfectly capable of taking care of Amberpaw, Cinderpelt's been walking my dreams remember?" there was an edge of impatience in his voice, "And anyway, her leg's back in place now, it was dislocated," his amber eyes ran over the grey-and-white patched she-cat, "I'm fine."

Dewpaw scoffed, "You're no medicine cat, Snowpaw," his tone softened, "Look, let's just see what this cat can do, we need to think about Amberpaw."

Snowpaw sighed, Dewpaw knew he wanted to prove that he could heal Amberpaw by himself, but he needed to accept what was best for their sister. Titch padded over to them, obviously getting a little impatient, "Well, do you want me to go get Soot or not?"

Dewpaw glanced sideways at Snowpaw. The white tom gave a nod of confirmation. Relief flooded through the dark grey tom, "Yes, please."

**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

Titch was gone for a while. Snowpaw had no idea why he was taking so long and was beginning to lose hope when the pale ginger rogue finally turned up. With Titch, a silky-furred dark grey she-cat with bright amber eyes. The kindness in her gaze reminded Snowpaw of Seedflight. The white tom shook away the thoughts and cleared his throat, "You're Soot then?" he asked, eyeing her, then Titch.

This cat looked like a kittypet, not at all like a cat who had the skills or knowledge to help Amberpaw. She looked uncertain, glancing over at Titch for support, "Uh, no, I'm Coal, Soot's sister."

Dewpaw glared at Titch, "I thought you said you would bring some cat named Soot? How's _she _supposed to help us?"

Snowpaw willed his brother to shut his jaws, _Dewpaw, don't mess things up! It's lucky Titch is letting us stay on his territory!_

Titch returned Dewpaw's burning amber gaze, "I have brought Soot actually," he retorted, "She's just"-

"Titch!" a dark grey tabby came bounding into the den, vibrant green eyes aglow. She leapt over to her sister and Titch, looking happy as can be. She didn't seemed to have a care in the world.

Titch looked annoyed at the she-cat's interruption and flicked his tail to the dark grey tabby, "_This_ is Soot."

Snowpaw met Soot's bright gaze and dipped his head out of respect, "Thank you for coming," he meowed gratefully, rising to his paws, but keeping Amberpaw in the corner of his eyes.

Soot smiled, stepping forward, "This is Amber paws?" she asked, flicking her tail in the direction of the injured ThunderClan apprentice, "Right?"

Snowpaw smiled, "_Amberpaw_, actually," he corrected her gently, "And yes, it is Amberpaw."

Without further words, Soot immediately darted over to the grey-and-white apprentice and began examining her. Snowpaw almost stopped her, uncomfortable at the thought of a stranger taking care of his sister, but he managed to stop himself from doing so. Taking a deep breath, Snowpaw forced himself to take a step back.

Dewpaw was talking to Coal, so Snowpaw decided to try and relax and join in on conversation. Since leaving Floss and Smoky, he had only Amberpaw and Dewpaw for conversation, it would be good to talk to someone besides his littermates.

"Why are you actually here?" Dewpaw questioned, inclining his head, "I mean, you're not a medicine cat or anything? I know Soot isn't either but…"

Coal gave him a blank stare, "Medicine cat?" she shrugged off the question, "I go where my sister goes, I'll never leave her side, _never._"

Snowpaw admired the dark grey she-cat's dedication, "Are you a kittypet?" he asked out of the blue, his attention falling to both Coal and Soot's silky smooth pelts, "I mean, uh, a housecat?"

Titch answered the question for her, snapping, "We're not housecats or whatever you call them! We are watchers. This is our area of the town, we keep an eye on things," he and Coal exchanged glances briefly. Snowpaw got the impression there was something they were hiding.

_Watchers? What's a watcher?_ Snowpaw shook the thoughts to the back of his mind and instead, flashed a smile to the two 'watchers'. Titch looked like he was about to say something, but a startled meow cut him off before the words left his jaws.

"She's awake! Amberpaws is awake!" Soot squealed excitedly, dancing from paw to paw with excitement. Snowpaw's pricked his ears immediately and darted over to where Soot stood above his sister. Dewpaw quickly joined them, a _whoosh_ of dark grey and only skidding to a halt when he reached Amberpaw.

The pale grey-and-white she-cat's eyes fluttered open briefly before closing again. They then flung open again, as if Amberpaw had suddenly realised what had just happened. Dewpaw looked like he could burst with happiness; Snowpaw knew the dark grey tom had felt desperately guilty about what had happened to her on the thunderpath.

"Molespots?" Amberpaw murmured drowsily, blinking a few times before finally realising the brown-and-cream warrior wasn't before her, but her two brothers and Soot of course. She looked a bit flustered about her words, "S-Snowpaw I mean… And Dewpaw?"

The snow-white tom purred happily, nuzzling his sister affectionately, "I thought I lost you," he whispered, touching noses to his littermate, "T-the monster…"

Amberpaw beamed brightly, "Me too, I thought I was headed to StarClan," her amber eyes briefly flashed with an unreadable expression before she turned her attention to her other brother.

Dewpaw was crouched by her injured leg, head bowed and trying not to show the emotion that swum in his amber eyes. Snowpaw grinned, he knew Dewpaw hated showing any signs of emotion.

"A-Amberpaw," the dark grey apprentice stammered, pressing his nose into Amberpaw's soft fur, "You're alive, you're alive!"

Amberpaw chuckled, though Snowpaw could see the exhaustion that seeped from her bright amber eyes, "Well, I wasn't expecting that," she meowed, amused by Dewpaw's show of affection, "What happened? I mean, after I got hit… How long have I been out?"

"Half the day," Dewpaw answered quickly, detaching himself from his sister and trying to pretend he'd never given such a show of emotions. Amberpaw's amber eyes fell to Soot, then Coal and Titch. She gave Dewpaw a questioning look.

Snowpaw was already prepared and cut in before Dewpaw could, "This is Soot," he nodded to the slender, dark grey she-cat, "Coal and Titch," he flicked his tail towards each cat in turn. They all gave a respectful nod in return.

Soot seemed chuffed to bits that Amberpaw had woken up and was smiling the biggest smile Snowpaw had ever seen, "It worked," she breathed in disbelief, "It actually worked."

Snowpaw, if a little confused, meowed in reply, "How did you wake her?" he asked, intrigued at how the dark grey tabby had managed to pull Amberpaw back into consciousness.

Soot looked away, suddenly becoming a little shifty, "Uh, I just you know"- she broke off, then, changing the subject, mewed, "She seems fine, what you did with her was great, she'll probably be limping a little bit, but there's no reason why that leg won't be fine after a few days."

Snowpaw frowned, but then decided not to probe Soot further. If she didn't want to tell him how she had woken his littermate from her unconsciousness, then that was fine. All that mattered now was that Amberpaw was awake again and tomorrow, with luck, they could continue their journey.

"Uh, Snowpaw?"

The white-furred apprentice glanced back at his sister, "Yes?"

"I don't mean to be rude," she began shyly, not quite meeting Snowpaw's expectant gaze, "But, you don't suppose there's anything I could have to eat, like a mouse or something?"

Snowpaw's smiled faded, "Sorry, neither of us have eaten since you got hit by the monster," he spoke the last words carefully, in case Amberpaw was still sensitive about her accident.

The white-furred tom almost didn't notice that Titch and Coal had joined them. The cats briefly shared a few words before Coal spoke up, "We can show you the best places to hunt, if you want?"

Titch looked a little uneasy about the whole situation, but he gave a nod to confirm it was ok. Snowpaw smiled, but Dewpaw answered for him, "Yes, please, that would be great!"

**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

The pale grey-and-white patched apprentice still couldn't believe what had happened. One moment she was walking, perfectly fine, and then the monster came hurtling towards her. She hadn't heard her brother's warning yowl and frozen to the spot, so absorbed by shock, there was nothing she could do but wait for the great creature to hit her. Dewpaw came racing over to her in an attempt to save her, but he didn't reach Amberpaw soon enough.

She remembered the pain, oh the pain, when the monster hit her. She saw her life flash before her, in the nursery as a kit, mewling for milk, playing with Seedpaw and Lilypaw, then becoming an apprentice, the whole clan calling her name. Then the prophecy, her conversation with Lionheart and then black. Just black, complete darkness.

Blurred memories, faded in an instant. Amberpaw was alone, all alone. The darkness had gradually faded to light, then a starlit forest. Cats had wreathed around her, their pelts glowing with starshine and their voices vaguely similar. Where she'd heard them before, Amberpaw had no idea.

She remembered being approached by a large golden furred tom with the brightest amber eyes Amberpaw had ever seen. His words despite being scarcely audible, rung loud and clear in her mind, "Amberpaw, Amberstar. Your quest is far from finished, you must return, again."

_Again, Amberstar?_ Confusion washed over Amberpaw like a wave at that point. And then darkness again. She could hear Snowpaw and Dewpaw's voices.

And that was when Amberpaw woke up, to find a dark grey tabby she-cat crouched over her, eyes wide with delight at her awakening. _I'm alive, I'm alive._ Those were Amberpaw's first thoughts.

The grey-and-white ThunderClan she-cat was still in exactly the same position as when she'd first woken up. Desperately worried about her leg, despite having been told by Soot that she would be fine to put weight on it now, Amberpaw hadn't yet tried to walk.

She knew she could walk, she just didn't feel quite ready yet. There was still a dull, aching pain in her leg. Dewpaw and Snowpaw had just set off to go hunting along with Coal and _Titch_ was it? Amberpaw didn't quite trust the two cats, though Soot seemed much nicer.

The dark grey tabby was currently in the corner of the nest, washing her paws hurriedly. She was muttering to herself, in a brisk tone, about something or another. Amberpaw couldn't quite catch her words, much to her annoyance. She was a bit of a busybody and like to know what everyone was talking about and doing, all the time.

Amberpaw considered asking the dark grey tabby about it, but refrained from doing so. It could be something really personal and Amberpaw didn't want to intrude on that.

Still, it intrigued her. Judging from her expression, Soot wasn't just babbling on about something like being hungry. No, her expression was far too solemn to be just thinking about food.

Amberpaw sighed, resting her head on her paws. She was still unsure as to whether she should trust Soot, Coal and Titch, something told her they were up to something.

She glanced over at her dark grey tabby company. _There's something troubling her, something serious. _Soot wasn't quite like the others. Where Amberpaw found it hard to trust Titch and Coal, she found herself almost growing to like the dark grey tabby she-cat.

Sighing, the grey-and-white she-cat closed her eyes. _They're up to something, I know they are._

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**Well, whatcha think? Amberpaw's dream? Why did that cat call her Amberstar? And what about Soot, Coal and Titch (giggle)? They seem to be up to something... Anyway, read and review!**

**This is Leafsplash, signing out!**

**-flies away on purple broomstick-**


	9. Chapter Eight: Dogs

**Well, hello my loyal readers and reviewers! I have a name for you guys... My Moonies! Because the series is called Blue Moon and yeah... xD Anyway, onwards and upwards!**

**Interesting fact: Molespots was originally a villain. -gasp- xD Amberpaw was going to witness him murder a cat, but then he was going to attack her and make her swear to not tell anyone. xD I kind of changed things a bit.**

**Anyway, Snowpaw?**

**Snowpaw: Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan does not claim to own Warriors. But she does lay claim to the banana she's eating.**

**Me: Thank you. Anyway, review time!**

**Orange - :) I'll probably be updating twice a week now, 'cause once a week isn't often enough for me. And thanks! :3**

**Spottedmoth123 - Agreed, I love Soot, for no reason in particular... xD**

**Raggedstar 3 - Titch is quite like Red/Russetfur, yes. :) And no, not quite... You'll find out in a few chapters.**

**icefire - xD Sure! Go SOOT! Goooo Soot! Go Soot! S- O-O-T! Soot!**

**Anyway, enjoy! Read and Review!**

* * *

_Amberpaw_

Amberpaw woke up the next morning to pale dawn light creeping in through the cracks in the wall of the abandoned twoleg nest. Admittedly, the grey-and-white apprentice hadn't had the best of nights; she had dreamt that her leg had been permanently injured by the monster and that she'd never be able to be a warrior, or even finish their journey. It had been so vivid, so real, that when Amberpaw awoke, she was surprised to find her leg absolutely fine.

In fact her leg was more than fine. The grey-and-white she-cat could feel no pain in it at all, even after shaking it about a little. Yes, she could feel there was a bruise there, but it didn't hurt, unless she touched it with her paw.

Yawning, the ThunderClan apprentice made up her mind to try out her leg. Glancing over at Snowpaw's and Dewpaw's sleeping forms, she decided it was the perfect time for it. Amberpaw didn't want the pressure of an audience watching when she attempted to walk again.

Stiffly, the weary grey-and-white patched she-cat pulled herself up. Taking a deep breath, she slowly rose to her paws, eyes closed due to the nerves. Anxiously, Amberpaw slowly put weight down on her injured leg.

Instantly, a ripple of shock passed through her and she winced. Amberpaw took a deep breath, _Calm, yourself, Amberpaw! You'll have to walk sometime, it'll be fine!_

Cautiously, Amberpaw tried out her leg again. This time she ignored the pain and after a minute or so, it felt a whole lot better. Smiling to herself, she began to walk forwards, awkwardly at first, but with each step, it got smoother, until Amberpaw was happily padding along.

"Feeling better this morning, then?"

Startled by the sudden mew, Amberpaw froze. It was only glancing behind her that she realised it was only Soot. She released a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding and spun to face the dark grey tabby she-cat.

Smiling warmly, she purred, "Y-yes, much better," she examined her leg, shaking it about a little before diverting her attention back to the dark grey tabby she-cat, "Thank you for helping me and my brothers."

Soot dipped her head, "It's my pleasure, I love healing and helping cats," she meowed politely, padding over to Amberpaw so they didn't have to shout from one side of the twoleg nest to the other.

Having a nice conversation with Soot almost made Amberpaw forget about her earlier suspicions. The grey-and-white apprentice trusted the dark grey tabby a little more now, but she had decided that her sister, Coal, and Titch, were definitely up to something. _But what?_

"You'd make a great medicine cat," Amberpaw meowed thoughtfully, amber gaze a little distant as she thought back to ThunderClan's very own medicine cat, Leafpool and her apprentice and son, Jayfeather. She couldn't stand that grumpy old furball, always complaining and moaning. Soot, however, could be a wonderful medicine cat, Amberpaw just knew it.

Judging from her confused expression and her slightly inclined head, Soot didn't think so. Either that, or she didn't have a clue what Amberpaw was going on about, "What's a medicine cat?" she enquired.

Amberpaw beamed a bright smile, "A medicine cat is a cat who heals the clan," she began, casually drawing her paw behind her ear and washing it in a circular motion, "They use herbs and treat and care for the sick, injured and of course, the elders and the queens."

Soot looked intrigued and perked up a little bit, "So, they're like the Carers," she murmured thoughtfully, gaze growing distant.

The grey-and-white apprentice frowned, pausing her grooming ritual to ask, "Who are the Carers?" it was her time to ask questions now, "And Titch mentioned the Watchers, who are they?"

Soot was silent for a moment, considering her response. Amberpaw could practically read her thoughts, _How much should I give away?_ After a long silence, she finally responded, "There are four groups of cats here in the town," she started, eyeing the sleeping Snowpaw and Dewpaw warily, as if worried they would awake and hear her words.

_Town? Is that what they call twolegplace?_ Amberpaw quickly shook the thoughts out of her mind and instead gave the dark grey tabby she-cat a puzzled look.

Soot didn't seem to notice Amberpaw's expression, but continued, "There's the Watchers, The Carers, The Defenders and the Attackers. Titch, Coal and I are Watchers, although I and Coal were born Carers," she explained, "Together we keep everything in the town under control. The Watchers patrol the town, keeping an eye out for trouble, and if we find any, we report it to the Defenders. The Defenders, well, _defend_ the town from any intruders, such as you and your brothers," Soot immediately realised her mistake, slapping her tail to her mouth, "Sorry, I don't mean"-

Amberpaw shushed her, "No, no, it's fine."

Soot gave her an uneasy smile, "The Defenders chase out all trouble, but when there's no trouble, they join the Watchers in their duties," she paused to take a deep breath, "The Carers care for the wounded and sick, after fights and skirmishes and such. And then there's the Attackers."

Amberpaw wasn't quite following, but gave a nod to Soot anyway. She didn't want to appear as though she wasn't listening to the dark grey tabby, after all, she had listened perfectly to Amberpaw when she'd explained about medicine cats.

Soot seemed very sensitive about the last group of cats, "The Attackers," she mewed, glancing over her shoulder briefly, "Attack the other towns and any other groups of cats, in an attempt to win cats to join their town. They sometimes steal kits. Titch's mate was from a group of cats in the mountains, the Tribe of Water or something?"

_The Tribe of Rushing Water!_ Amberpaw thought suddenly. _Wait._ Perhaps "The Attackers" were the same group of cats who had attacked the tribe that Jayfeather talked of?

Soot seemed to be struggling to remember, "I _think_ her name was Lark at Dawn or something else strange?" she paused for a moment, before flicking her dark tabby-striped tail dismissively, "It was something weird, everyone just calls her Lark though, it's much easier."

Amberpaw nodded slowly, still trying to take in everything that had just been said. Stealing kits? Now, that was just wrong. The grey-and-white she-cat couldn't even bear to think of being away from her family, stolen as a kit and now living in Twolegplace. The thought was just unthinkable.

"So," Amberpaw meowed, swallowing, "You like being a watcher?"

Soot looked contemplative, "I guess," she sighed, "I'd rather be a Carer though, or one of your medicine cat thingies," she purred, eyes lightening.

Amberpaw laughed, "I'm glad I'm not a Watcher, or a Carer or whatever, I'm proud to be a warrior," _a warrior apprentice,_ she bit back the thoughts and forced a smile._ I may never get to see the day I become a warrior. I could die on this journey._

The grey-and-white patched she-cat swallowed those chilling thoughts nervously. There was an awkward silence between the two of them until a bright voice pierced the morning air.

"Amberpaw! Your leg!" Snowpaw meowed, rising to his paws and bounding over to his sister, "You feeling better this morning, then?"

Amberpaw smiled, nuzzling the white tom, "Much better," she purred, inclining her head towards the dark grey tabby, "Thanks to you and Soot."

Snowpaw murmured something inaudible whilst Soot just shrunk backwards, a little shyly. Amberpaw got the impression her new found friend was a very modest character.

Before either had the chance to reply, a loud meow arose from their final companion. Dewpaw had awoken, and he was making it very clear.

"Snowpaw, Amberpaw, we need to get going," he meowed sharply, flicking his tail and padding over to the other three cats. Titch and Coal had scurried off late last night, muttering about something they needed to prepare for, leaving Soot alone with Amberpaw and her littermates.

"Well, good morning to you too," Snowpaw meowed sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Amberpaw laughed, but soon stopped after Dewpaw shot her a harsh amber stare.

The dark grey tom took a deep breath, "Sorry," he apologised, "We just need to get going, we don't know how bad a state SkyClan are in, cats could be dying right now," he pointed out.

Snowpaw and Amberpaw nodded in unison, whilst Soot looked on in confusion. The three had decided not to tell the dark grey tabby of their quest to return the lost clan, she would never understand.

Snowpaw puffed out his chest fur, standing tall beside his brother, "I'm not that hungry, I ate well last night, I say we hunt on the way?" he suggested, looking to his littermates hopefully. Amberpaw knew he just wanted to get going.

The grey-and-white she-cat gave a nod. Her paws were too itching to get going, longing for adventure, despite her near death experience the previous day. She would have to be much more careful today, she didn't want to hold back their journey even longer by sustaining _another_ injury.

Standing beside her littermates, she dipped her head to Soot, "Thank you for helping," she mewed politely, "But we have to get going, the sooner we reach SkyClan, the better."

Soot studied her for a second, before giving an understanding nod, "Yes, of course. It has been a pleasure meeting you, I hope our paths cross again."

Dewpaw had already started to lead the way out of the den, "May StarClan light your path," he meowed in a rather chilling tone. Amberpaw wondered what had gotten into the dark grey tom. Dewpaw had felt a little uneasy in Twolegplace, she knew that, but it couldn't be that was making him act strange.

Amberpaw tossed away the thoughts and instead shot Soot a friendly smile, before trailing after her two brothers, "Thank you, for everything!"

_Snowpaw_

"So, we're heading for Highstones?" Snowpaw asked, almost tripping over his own paws to keep up with his elder brother. Dewpaw had set off at a brisk pace, a little too brisk in fact, for Snowpaw's short legs. They had walked for how long now? Half the day perhaps?

It was sunhigh now, not that you could tell. Now, with it being leaf-bare, thick clouds covered the sky and it was practically impossible to tell the time of day.

"Yes," Dewpaw meowed hurriedly, "Now, could you hurry up? It's going to take forever if you walk at this pace," he nodded to Amberpaw, who was a few tail-lengths ahead of him, "She's fine and she got hit by a monster yesterday."

"Well, _I'm_ sorry," Snowpaw apologised, not meeting his brother's dark amber eyes, "But I can't help having short legs."

No response. The snow-furred apprentice sighed, rolling his eyes. Dewpaw could be such a mouse-brain sometimes!

He let his eyes wander to their surroundings, the dull grey stone ground of Twolegplace and the red-stone walls and twoleg nests that littered the place. _How long does Twolegplace go on for?_ He wondered with a sigh. To the small white tom, it felt as if it went on _forever._

Soot had assured them the night before that it wasn't much longer until they reached open ground again and more importantly, hunting grounds. Snowpaw swiped his tongue around his jaws at the thought. _Prey._

The skinny mice that scampered through Twolegplace were nowhere near as good as the plump ThunderClan mice. _Probably because they spend their life running free, whilst in Twolegplace, there are walls and boundaries everywhere, and barely any trees or plants!_ Snowpaw decided, turning his thoughts to another subject.

_Seedflight._ He could practically feel the pale ginger she-cat's pelt brushing against his at her name. How he longed to be back in ThunderClan by her side, standing strong.

His mind raced back to their night in the medicine cat's den. He remembered the feeling of her soft fur pressed against his, her bright green eyes, aglow in the darkness, her every word, he remembered it all.

_I wonder if she misses me?_ He pondered, _I doubt it._

His thoughts were cut off by a sharp meow from Amberpaw.

"Uh, Snowpaw, Dewpaw? I think you need to see this."

Snowpaw immediately stiffened, before darting over to join his sister and see what she had spotted. Her eyes fell to what she was pointing out and for a moment he froze. _Now I know how Amberpaw felt before the monster hit her._

But Amberpaw hadn't spotted a monster. Not even a twoleg, they had seen plenty of those already. No, what the grey-and-white apprentice had pointed out was a group of creatures, at the end of the alleyway they were walking along. Dogs.

"Run," Snowpaw whispered, hoping the creatures hadn't spotted them. But when neither of his littermates responded, he hissed more urgently, "Run!"

A sharp yapping broke out from a small brown-and-white dog and suddenly, Snowpaw and his littermates were running. _Where to?_

He glanced around anxiously, the yapping now having been joined by deeper growls and a high-pitched yowl. Snowpaw was the fastest, so took the lead, leaping over a strange, hollow silver tree stump and heading back in the direction they'd came from. At the end of the alley, there was a tall red-stone wall. It looked impenetrable, desperately high, but it could be their only escape. Their other exits were blocked by dogs, a twoleg nest and a strange twoleg contraption that Snowpaw didn't dare go near.

"Come on!" he mewed urgently, glancing over his shoulders to check his littermates were following. To his relief, both Amberpaw and Dewpaw were keeping up, not quite as fast as himself, but they were managing, just about.

Directly behind them, and getting ever closer, were the dogs. There appeared to be about four of them in total, the small, yappy brown-and-white one, a large shaggy dark brown one, a medium sized black-and-white one with floppy ears and a tall pale brown one with white paws and a missing ear.

All four were snarling and barking like mad. When Snowpaw met the smallest one's eyes, he saw something that frightened him deeply. There was that same look that Snowpaw himself had seen, but not in a dog, but a cat, a cat _hunting._

_But we're the prey this time!_ Snowpaw suddenly realised, a ripple of fright surging through him,_ And we all know what happens to prey, when they're caught._

The white tom couldn't bear the thought of dying, without ever seeing Seedflight again, feeling her touch one last time, hearing her gentle voice. It was then that a rush of determination rippled through the Snowpaw and suddenly he was running faster than he ever had before. Emerging from the alleyway, as Soot had called it, a blur of white fur, he bunched his muscles, setting his gaze firmly on the fence.

_I've gotta make it, for Seedflight._

A tail-length away from the fence, he leapt. Soaring through the air for the moment, the white apprentice savoured the feeling of the wind through his pelt, the feeling of flying, and then he landed.

He had done it. Snowpaw, apprentice of ThunderClan, had done the unthinkable and landed safely on top of a just over two metre wall, as twolegs would call it.

But it wasn't over yet. Dewpaw and Amberpaw were still running, he could see them down below, emerging from the shadows, the dogs hot on their heel.

"Dewpaw! Amberpaw!" Snowpaw yowled, "Up here!" his voice was scarcely audible above the constant yapping and howling of the dogs.

Dewpaw's gaze flickered to the white tom and he hissed something to Amberpaw. The grey-and-white she-cat's eyes stretched wide with worry when she spotted the obstacle she was expected to clear.

The dark grey tom led the way, taking a huge jump and landing beside Snowpaw. Only just. Amberpaw looked scared to death at the thought of jumping the wall.

"You've got to just do it," Dewpaw hissed down to the grey-and-white she-cat. Amberpaw nodded nervously, amber eyes wide, her breaths coming in ragged and short. The smallest dog was almost on her tail now, as she took the jump.

_She's not going to make it. She's not going to make it._ Snowpaw watched, feeling utterly powerless to the whole situation. _She's not going to make it, StarClan, have mercy!_

And then something happened that completely took Snowpaw by surprise. She made it. Amberpaw made the leap, despite her injured leg and her inability, she had made it.

Snowpaw's eyes stretched wide in disbelief it, "She made it," he breathed. StarClan had answered his prayers and his sister was safe, for now.

Down below, the dogs scrabbled at the wall hopelessly, yapping and barking like mad, "Yeah, that's right!" Dewpaw yowled down, "Do that all you want, I don't think you'll be able to get us!"

Snowpaw was still in disbelief. Amberpaw was trying to catch her breath, though her amber eyes shone with achievement, "We did it," she mewed breathlessly, "_I _did it."

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**Well, what did you guys think? Bit of a bad ending, but oh well. Anyway read and review!**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**

**-poofs-**


	10. Chapter Nine: Old Secrets

**Here ya go! Next chapter! Hope you enjoy, sorry if it's a bit rushed. No time for an interesting fact, gotta go to bed straight after this!**

**Anyway, I do not own Warriors, otherwise, why on earth would I be on Fanfiction?!**

**Onto review replies! :3**

**Orange - xD Thanks!**

**WyldClaw - Yup, and Cinderpelt! Don't forget Cinderpelt! ^^ Thanks!**

**icefire - xD Thanks so much! It took a lot of thinking. I knew someone would ask about that. Snowpaw can be fast, really fast, but only if he has a reason, for example, the dogs, then Seedflight.**

**Raggedstar 3 - xD Thanks!**

**Anyway, read and review! :3**

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_Dewpaw_

It was a great relief to escape the mess that was Twolegplace. Waking up to see the clump of twoleg nests and tangle of thunderpaths behind them and ahead of them, rolling hills, gave Dewpaw great pleasure.

They had travelled so far already, the dark grey tom was still in shock that they had actually made it. Slowly rising to his paws, his dark amber eyes trailed to the sky above.

Today, instead of yesterday's murky grey, it was a pale blue colour and several dawn clouds drifted by lazily. It didn't hide the fact, however, that leaf-bare was now in full swing. The trees were bare, skeletons of their former selves and the prey was thin and far between.

They had found that last part out when attempting to hunt the previous night. They had found a small oak copse, in the hope that there would be a fair amount of prey there, but in the end, they only brought down two skinny mice and an underfed sparrow.

Shaking the weariness from his bones, Dewpaw cautiously clambered over his sleeping brother and cast a brief glance over at Amberpaw. In their exhaustion, they had settled for the roots of an ancient oak that bordered the nearby thunderpath for shelter for the night.

Snowpaw was pressed against Amberpaw, his snowy white fur standing out against Amberpaw's dull, pale grey pelt. Deciding against waking them, the dark grey apprentice decided to try his paw at a little bit of dawn hunting.

With the weather being a little better today, hopefully there would be more prey out and about. Yawning, the dark grey tom stretched briefly before padding in the direction of a clump of trees. _There's bound to be some prey out, making the most of the weather,_ he glanced up at the sky, _It won't last much longer._

Scenting the air, Dewpaw found his assumptions to be correct. The scent of mice ran strong, but that didn't mean that catching one would be easy. He could also taste several birds, a chaffinch and a robin, or so he guessed.

Letting the breeze softly ruffle his dark grey pelt he smiled to himself. Switching into stealth mode upon entering the copse, he slunk through the shadows, all senses alert to any signs of life, or more importantly, prey.

Sliding through the undergrowth, he let his eyes wander free. So far, no sign of any prey.

Dewpaw lifted his head to the sky and scented the air. There was _definitely _a mouse nearby, but where?

Shaking some dew from his paw, he dropped into a hunter's crouch and stalked forward, belly almost pressed against the bare forest floor.

Amber gaze alert, he quickly picked up movement in the canopy. His ears snapped forward as he homed in on his prey, quickly spotting a small brown sparrow. The small bird's feathers were fluffed up against the chilling breeze and it appeared to be calling to another of its kind, its sweet song ringing out clear.

Smiling to himself triumphantly, he slunk forward, to the roots of the tree that the small sparrow was perched in. Swiping his tongue around his jaws, Dewpaw bunched his muscles, taking a few steps back, before nimbly leaping up into one of the lower branches.

The branch swayed a little, but held. With luck, the small sparrow hadn't yet noticed its follower. It certainly didn't show any signs of being aware of Dewpaw's presence as it continued to chirp away, swaying from side to side a little.

The dark grey apprentice hopped onto the next branch up, landing softly and only disturbing a few stray leaves that hadn't yet fallen to the forest floor. It was risky, climbing a tree to catch prey, especially when there was no cover of leaves. The bird could easily spot him, if it wasn't so absorbed in its song, and he'd be left in a tree with no prey, no nothing.

Slinking forwards, Dewpaw advanced on his prey, easily climbing a few branches higher. The sparrow was just above him, but the question was, did he leap from his current position or risk it and climb higher, attempting the kill from there.

The dark grey tom contemplated the thought for a moment. He was a fighter at heart, not a hunter, if he climbed a few branches higher, the catch would be easier. _But then again…_

He eyed the branch above, then the sparrow. He quickly made up his mind, he didn't want his breakfast flying away. _I'm going to do it._

Dewpaw took a deep breath, slithering backwards as far as he could on the small branch. The sparrow stopped singing and appeared to have noticed something was up. Thankfully, Dewpaw was directly below his prey and so the sparrow didn't spot him. Or at least, it hadn't yet.

_Whoosh!_ Dewpaw flew through the air, a blur of dark grey, paws outstretched and claws unsheathed. By the time the sparrow saw its attacker it was too late.

Dewpaw landed, a little unsteadily, and killed the bird swiftly with a clean bite to the head. _Thank you, StarClan._ The dark grey tom silently gave thanks to StarClan for the sparrow's life before even thinking about getting down again. Wobbling a little, he almost fell off the branch altogether when a voice yowled from below.

"You alright up there, Dewpaw?"

The dark grey ThunderClan tom glanced down, prey swaying from his jaws, to see a mass of white fur sitting at the bottom of the tree, head inclined. It was Snowpaw. Dewpaw gave a relieved sigh and meowed back, "Y-yeah! I'm fine!"

Snowpaw gave him a knowing look, eyes dancing with amusement, before taking a step back and replying, "Ok, whatever you say!"

Dewpaw hissed under his breath, Snowpaw knew him too well. Dewpaw was a perfectly capable climber, but when he actually got up higher than a certain height, he started to get a bit freaked out. He hated heights. Until then, the dark grey tom hadn't been looking down and had almost forgotten he was actually up in a tree, but his brother's call had made him look down and all of a sudden he was reminded of one of his deepest fears.

Summoning a steady breath, the apprentice thought to himself determinedly, _It's ok, not too high. Just put one paw in front of the other and it'll be fine._

Ignoring his brother's amused gaze, Dewpaw began to edge closer to the trunk of the tree. _One step at a time, one step at a time._ The ThunderClan tom took another deep breath and bracing himself, sprung down onto the next branch. At first the branch shook and Dewpaw was worried it wouldn't hold out, but yet again, he was proven wrong.

The limp sparrow swaying in his jaws, Dewpaw balanced himself before taking another leap and landing on the next branch down. _Don't look down, don't look down._

One branch at a time, Dewpaw began to descend towards the forest floor. It was only when he reached the final branch and leapt, landing next to Snowpaw with such grace, that the white tom managed to wipe the amused grin off his face. Dewpaw smiled at his brother victoriously and although he uttered no words, nothing needn't be said, his face said it all.

Snowpaw didn't tease his brother about being scared of heights ever again.

_Snowpaw_

"We need to leave," Dewpaw announced, tossing the remains of his sparrow aside, "If we're to make it to Highstones by sunset, we have to leave, _now._"

Snowpaw nodded, glancing over at Amberpaw. The grey-and-white she-cat was unusually quiet and had been ever since waking up this morning. The snowy-furred tom had been woken by her restless fidgeting in her sleep and wondered whether she'd been having nightmares.

"N-now?" Amberpaw stammered, restless amber gaze unsure. She looked absolutely exhausted, eyes clouded, pelt ruffled and her movements stiff.

Snowpaw blinked sympathetically, "Are you ok, Amberpaw?" he asked, genuine concern tinging his mew. He tilted his head, studying his sister.

Amberpaw shied away a little, not meeting the white tom's gaze, "I'm fine," she answered quickly, turning away and rising to her paws, "Come on, what are you waiting for? Let's go?"

Snowpaw frowned, but followed, Dewpaw just ahead of him. This wasn't at _all_ like Amberpaw, what on earth had gotten into her? Sighing, the white tom fell in behind his brother.

Dewpaw's natural leadership skills were starting to shine through since they'd set off on the journey. Snowpaw had originally been the, unelected, leader of group, but Dewpaw had slowly edged forward and taken over. Not that the white tom was that bothered, he was no leader. His brother however… he smiled, glancing over at Dewpaw.

The dark grey tom noticed Snowpaw's random smiling, "Snowpaw, tell me you're ok? I don't think I'll be able to cope if both of you go crazy," he meowed, eyeing Amberpaw. Snowpaw laughed and rolled his eyes, glancing over at his sister. _Amberpaw's not gone crazy,_ he thought privately, his thoughts returning to his earlier suspicions of her having a nightmare.

His gaze settled on his sister, who appeared to be muttering something to herself about an ancient quest? Snowpaw tried to ignore her, it must've just been a bad dream.

_Amberpaw_

The three prophesised cats had been walking for several hours or so when an excited mew arose from Snowpaw, "I can see mountains! I think it's Highrocks!"

Dewpaw squinted, "It's Highstones," he corrected, "And I think you're right, that's what Honeyfern said Highstones looked like."

Snowpaw frowned, "She never went to the old forest, how would she know?" He questioned, confusion growing in his amber gaze.

Dewpaw stared at him, "How am I supposed to know? She's a StarClan cat, she probably just knows these things," he meowed as if it was obvious.

Amberpaw, however, was less interested. So many questions swum around her mind, confusing her vision and thoughts. _Who am I? Really, who am I? I don't feel like Amberpaw anymore. I'm not Amberpaw, I never was._ It was all since her dream; that dream…

**FLASHBACK**

_When Amberpaw opened her eyes, she found herself to no longer to be snuggled amongst the roots of the great oak that bordered the Thunderpath. She frowned, but after noticing the starlit look of the forest she found herself stood in, she relaxed, realising it must just be a dream from Briarlight._

_But the cat that emerged from the mist was definitely not Briarlight, in no way or form. But this cat… This cat was strikingly familiar. _

_With a thick covering of golden fur and amber eyes, the brightest amber eyes Amberpaw had ever seen, this was the cat she'd seen in her vision, after being hit by the monster… But it wasn't just then she'd seen him. The grey-and-white apprentice recognised him from somewhere else, somewhere much further back…_

_"Amber," he began, his voice thick with wisdom, "Ambersong, Amberstar," his amber eyes swum with emotion. He'd called her Amberstar in her last vision too… She swallowed nervously. Wait… That was when the memories came flooding back._

_A tiny kit in a storm, separated from her mother and littermates after a flood. Finding a gorge, a desolate sandstone gorge with caves dotted around it. A new home._

_Long nights, spent in the caves, watching the rain fall. And then, learning to hunt. Frustration at first, unable to get the hang of it, but then victory._

_And then… another cat. A handsome golden furred tom with bright amber eyes. Tales of ancient group of cats, driven away from the gorge a few generations ago. Determination._

_Starry-eyed cats in dreams, telling confusing riddles. Receiving nine lives, building camp. Lots of cats, Strange names. Owlsplash, Nettleclaw and Tinyspots._

_Kits. So much work! Three little lives in my paws!_

_Battles, lots of battles and oh, the pain, unbearable! Amberstar! Amberstar! One life left. _

_The golden furred tom, bright amber eyes, filled with grief. Falling, falling. Can't breathe, can't breathe! The world fading to black._

_And then, a light in the dark. Opening tiny eyes, a cat with only one eye, peering down. Brightheart her name is. Reborn._

_Adventures, attacking elders' tails. Getting told off. Oops! Sorry Purdy!_

_Apprentices! So exciting! I wonder who my mentor will be? Sorreltail!_

_The gathering, almost falling into the lake! A brown-and-cream tom._

_A strange prophecy, grumpy old Dewpaw, reluctant to believe such a thing. Can't stop thinking of Molespots._

_Then, leaving. A journey, a quest, must finish it this time, can't be beaten again._

_The memories faded and Amberpaw found herself face to face with the golden tom again. She stepped forward, eyes swimming with emotion, "Goldenstorm," she whispered softly, gazing up at the tom with new found awe. This was Goldenstorm. Her love, from… from before._

_"Amberstar," he mewed, his wistful amber eyes running over her, "We decided it was time you found out your past," he told her, touching noses to her._

_The grey-and-white apprentice was a little overwhelmed. Taking a deep breath, she managed to smile. It was the queerest feeling; she felt happy, so happy, yet confused. Somehow reunited, but a little lost._

_"You are Amberstar," Goldenstorm meowed, reading her confusion, "At least, you are Amberstar reincarnated," his amber eyes glowed with memories, "After SkyClan were forced to disband, several generations later, after stumbling upon SkyClan's old camp as a lost kit, you attempted to reform SkyClan after receiving dreams from SkyClan's Ancestors," he explained._

_Amberpaw nodded, slowly trying to take everything in._

_The golden furred warrior continued, "But a vicious group of rogues wanted SkyClan's old territory. Many battles were fought. After your… After your death SkyClan scattered again," he met Amberpaw's gaze, "But I never gave up on you, or SkyClan."_

_Amberpaw gave another slow nod. Yes, she remembered everything now. She smiled nervously, still a little unsure how to feel about this whole situation. She felt a rush of love for this cat, Goldenstorm, yet half of her didn't._

_"I have some cats who you may like to meet," Goldenstorm meowed, flicking his tail behind him. Amberpaw squinted, peering over the broad-shouldered tom to see about six cats emerging from the mist, ranging in sizes. The smallest appeared to be a kit, a very young kit, and the oldest had a kittypet look to him._

_"Nettleclaw, Tinyspots, Owlsplash," Goldenstorm nodded to the older cats, then his gaze fell to the remaining three cats. Emotion clouded his amber gaze, "And these are," he swallowed, "Our kits," he seemed a little nervous, as if he was worried his former mate wouldn't recognise them._

_Amberpaw had to study them for a second before recognition hit her. The smallest, still a kit, was pale grey tom with one white paw and green eyes. The other two were full grown, a golden tabby tom with white patches and a silver tabby she-cat._

_"Stormkit," she whispered, her voice barely audible, "Sunstripe… And Brooksong." These were her kits. Well, Amberstar's kits, which meant they were sort of her own._

_"Mother," the golden tabby tom, Sunstripe meowed, his tone urgent, "You must finish your quest this time, you must succeed, for us, for SkyClan."_

_Amberpaw nodded slowly, still trying to take everything in. These were the kits of Amberstar and Goldenstorm, she was the reincarnation of Amberstar. Amberstar had tried to reform SkyClan, but failed. Goldenstorm, her mate, Amberstat's mate._

_"Amberstar," it was Brooksong's time to speak, "I've missed you, so much. I thought you might've forgotten about us," she appeared to be on the verge of begging, "Please, don't forget about us. We've never forgotten about you, finish what you started. Return SkyClan to the lake, bring it to it's rightful place."_

_Amberpaw smiled, "I'll do my best," she vowed, bowing her head._

_Then came the last kit, the small pale grey tom, Stormkit. He stepped forward and mewed loud and clear, his message simple, "I'm proud of you mother. I believe in you, you and Snowpaw and Dewpaw, you can do this."_

_Amberpaw felt the need to nuzzle her son, her sort of son, and did so. Stormkit seemed a little taken back, but let her do so._

_After a few words with Owlsplash, Nettleclaw and Tinyspots, former SkyClan warriors, Goldenstorm alerted her of the approaching dawn._

_"Dawn grows close," he meowed, gaze filled with raw emotion, "You have been given a second chance, make the most of it. Don't let us hold you back," he glanced over at his companions, "Although we are your past, the future is your own. You are Amberpaw, not Amberstar, forge your own path," they shared a final glance, "But I will always love you, and when it's your time, and you come to join StarClan, know I will be waiting for you. I will always wait for you."_

_And then she awoke._

**END OF FLASHBACK**

_Am I Amberpaw or Amberstar?_ It was several hours since she had awoken from her dream, but she was still no closer to answering that question. She was the reincarnation of Amber_star,_ but she wasn't actually Amberstar, was she? The grey-and-white she-cat sighed, feeling completely lost.

"Come on Amberpaw! If we pick up the pace we might reach Highstones by sunset!" Snowpaw meowed excitedly from ahead. Amberpaw blinked, she hadn't quite realised how far behind her littermates she'd fallen.

She sighed, "I'm coming," she replied. _I'm coming, but who is I? Am I Amberpaw or am I Amberstar?_

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**Read and review please! Reviews make me happy and encourage me to write! 3**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**

**-poofs-**


	11. Chapter Ten: Voices

**Gah, a day late. I'm so sorry guys! It's half term now, a week off school (Yay!), so I should be updating more often. I'm going to try and write LOADS so that I can start updating twice a week rather than just once.**

**Oh, and If you want to see what some of the characters look like, check out this link: ** photos/94073797 N07/sets/72157633645699177/

**Anyway, interesting fact time! Originally, in Cinderheart and Lionblaze's litter, there was to be no Mosskit, instead Thrushkit. He was a golden brown tabby tom, but I decided that I wanted to add another she-kit to the litter, so Mosskit replaced him. Poor Thrushkit. Don't worry about him though, there will be another Thrushkit appearing, in a long time though... A long, long time. xD**

**Anyway, I do not own Warriors. If I did, why on earth would I be writing a fan fiction?! XP**

**Review Replies:**

**Spottedmoth123 - Aww, thank you! -hugs- I love writing it!**

**Silverlightning97 - xD Yay!**

**KND Operative Numbah 227 - Wow, that is the longest username I've ever had to type. xD And thank you, so much, for the sweetest review I've ever read! It was your review that motivated me to make this chapter super awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you! That comment brightened by day. :3**

**Moonlight Demise - Aww, thank you! A feathery writer. xD Are you suggesting I'm a bird? xP I'm kidding.**

**Raggedstar 3 - Agreed, Amberpaw's a little confused at the moment. xD**

**icefire - xD Go Molespots! Love him! Oh, and yeah, I have no idea why I put freaked out. I couldn't think of anything else to put I guess... Oh and that doesn't sound pushy at all. :3**

**Well, read away, enjoy! Remember, the quote I live by here on Fanfiction: "Live, Love, Read, Review." xD**

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_Snowpaw_

Words couldn't describe how excited Snowpaw was feeling. _We've reached Highstones. We've really reached Highstones._ Well, they hadn't quite reached Highstones; several fields of green and thick hedgerows separated them from their next milestone, but they were nearly there.

Even from here, the white tom couldn't help but marvel at the majestic beauty of the tall, steep, stone slopes that jutted up towards the cloudy sky. At the peaks of the great mountains was a thin covering of, what appeared to be, _snow? _Snowpaw frowned, how was it that it was snowy at the top, yet not on the ground here, or even the lower parts of the mountains?

Before he could wonder any further, Dewpaw's urgent mew cut through his thoughts, "Snowpaw, Amberpaw? What are _those_?"

Snowpaw stood on his paws, craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse of what the dark grey tom was referring to. From his left, he heard Amberpaw mutter, "StarClan knows."

But when the snowy-furred apprentice caught sight of what Dewpaw had pointed out, he couldn't help but grin knowingly. Creatures with fluffy white pelts and short black legs were grazing in the next field. In Snowpaw's eyes, they were the most unassuming creatures he'd ever seen.

"They're sheep," he meowed confidently, a glimmer of amusement dancing in his bright amber eyes, "Mudpaw, a WindClan apprentice, told me about them," he strode ahead of his brother, who had completely stopped in his tracks, "They're harmless."

Amberpaw gave him an unconvinced looks, "If you say so," she mewed cautiously, eyeing the fluffy white creatures warily. Snowpaw smiled, giving a nod before taking the lead of the group again.

Dewpaw didn't complain and just fell in behind Snowpaw, alongside Amberpaw. The snowy-coloured tom let his eyes wander to the path ahead, quickly spotting some twoleg posts jutting out of the ground, a thin strand of tendril stretched between them.

Snowpaw frowned, it looked like something they'd seen in twoleg place, except there had been no thin tendril there, a wooden plank taking over the role of the tendril. It appeared to be keeping the sheep in their field, but what would twolegs want with sheep?

_I guess we'll never understand twolegs._ Glancing over at his littermates, Snowpaw bounded on ahead, trying to look as confident as he possibly could. If his estimations were correct, they'd be able to creep under the thin tendril without getting caught and be able to walk out the other side, perfectly fine.

"And with luck," he muttered under his breath, "The sheep won't give us any bother."

He gave a sharp flick of his tail, beckoning for his littermates to follow, before dropping low and slithering under the tendril. Sharp silver 'thorns' that Snowpaw hadn't noticed before began to tug at Snowpaw's pelt, but he managed to squeeze out before he got too caught up.

Shaking himself free, he noticed several tufts of long white fur had now attached themselves to the tendril. _Oops._

It was Dewpaw's turn next. The dark grey tom looked perfectly calm, in fact a little amused by the strands of white fur that now made up the thin tendril.

Pressing his belly against the ground, he slid under the tendril easily, like a fish through water, and stepped out the other side looking pleased with himself.

_Now just Amberpaw left._ The grey-and-white apprentice looked a little nervous at the concept, not the silver thorny tendril, but the fact that awaiting them on the other side were sheep. Despite Snowpaw having told her they were completely and utterly harmless, she still seemed a little wary.

Dropping into something similar to a Hunter's Crouch, Amberpaw wriggled under the silver tendril. Emerging from the other side, her amber eyes stretched wide when she spotted a nearby sheep, grazing behind Snowpaw.

Stiffening, she flicked her tail in the sheep's direction. Snowpaw gave a calm nod, he'd already noticed the creature nearby and was perfectly aware of its actions. Right now, it wasn't doing anything other than munching away on the grass, but the white tom wanted to be alert, just in case.

"Come on," he hissed in a low voice, "We should get moving," he flashed Dewpaw a look, checking to see whether the dark grey tom wanted to resume his position as leader of the group, but his brother quickly shook his head.

"Oh no, you can lead for this bit, I don't mind," he smiled. Snowpaw gave a nod of respect. Dewpaw had changed a lot since the beginning of this journey. Yes, he still had his grumpy moments, but his leadership skills had really developed and he'd learnt to hold his tongue, well, most of the time.

Smiling to himself the white tom began to pad ahead, treading the path for his littermates behind him. Dewpaw walked confidently, whilst Amberpaw seemed a little nervous, her eyes wide and her emotions guarded. The grey-and-white she-cat wasn't acting quite as strangely as she had been earlier, thankfully, but she was still acting really weird. Snowpaw had considered confronting her, but had decided against it.

It was then that a strange sort of bleating sound came from directly behind them. Snowpaw froze, fur bristling and eyes narrowing to slits. _StarClan's kits, what was that?_

The white apprentice turned to see Dewpaw and Amberpaw staring right at... A sheep. _What?_ A sheep made that noise? He gave his littermates a confused look. Dewpaw grinned smugly, "It's just a sheep," he jeered, amusement dancing in his dark amber eyes, "I thought you said they were harmless."

Snowpaw managed to smile. It was a sheep. Of course. Mudpaw hadn't mentioned the strange noise that sheep made, he'd only told him that they grazed on the moor sometime and wouldn't harm a fly.

"They are harmless," Snowpaw managed, "I just didn't realise they made that strange sound."

Amberpaw laughed for what seemed to be the first time that day. Snowpaw felt his heart lift with hope, she seemed to have recovered from her strange mood.

"Come on then," Dewpaw meowed , "I'd better take the lead again, If Snowpaw's scared of sheep."

Snowpaw gave a nod, although a little embarrassed at being frightened of the sheep's bleating, he felt a lot happier. He found it funny how his brother decided to take the lead, he didn't ask, he just _did_ it.

With Dewpaw resuming his most comfortable position, in front, Snowpaw fell in beside his sister. Amberpaw gave him a wary look, before relaxing. The white tom wasn't blind however and knew his sister inside out and spotted the faint anxiety in her usually carefree amber gaze.

"Are you ok, Amberpaw?" he asked, "It's just you've been acting strangely all day and I wondered if you had a bad dream or something?"

The grey-and-white she-cat's eyes flashed with alarm and instantly she tensed, looking away from the white-furred tom, "I'm fine," she insisted, "It's just…. Nothing."

Snowpaw let his amber eyes run over her for a minute when suddenly a thought struck him, "The dark forest haven't visited you in a dream, have they? They're not back are they?" his mew urgent, he watched Amberpaw intently for her reaction to the question.

"Oh, no!" the grey-and-white patched she-cat meowed quickly, "The dark forest? No, definitely not," her amber gaze flitted from side to side nervously, "It's just…." She broke off, "I'll tell you later, ok?"

Snowpaw searched her expression for a second before sighing, "Of course, later."

Amberpaw nodded, her amber eyes slowly regaining their usual brightness before focusing on the path ahead, "Do you think we'll reach Highstones by nightfall?" she asked, inclining her head a little, "Briarlight said that there was a special place that we might have to visit there…"

A frown creased Snowpaw's features, "A special place?" he echoed unsurely, "What does she mean by"- he broke off, an idea sparking in his head. _Of course! How could I be so mouse-brained?_

"What is it?" Amberpaw meowed impatiently, bouncing from side to side a little. Snowpaw smiled, this was more like the Amberpaw he knew.

"The Moonstone," he breathed, "It's like the Moonpool, I think, but a stone. When the moon shines in through the roof of the cave, it splashes light onto the Moonstone and sort of brings it to life, I think? That's what Cinderpelt told me anyway."

The grey-and-white apprentice nodded, "So, the clans used to share tongues with StarClan there, just like the Moonpool."

"Pretty much," Snowpaw confirmed, his gaze wandering to the horizon. Dewpaw was a few strides ahead of him and his sister, ears pricked and keen amber gaze alert and focused intently on Highstones ahead.

Another sheep started bleating and Snowpaw froze for a moment, before quickly padding onwards once more. He didn't want Amberpaw and Dewpaw to think he was scared of sheep, because that wasn't at all true, he just didn't like the sound they made…

Shaking away the thoughts, Snowpaw tried to concentrate his mind on the task ahead. Dewpaw was finally taking things seriously, so he should be too, rather than worrying about the, completely harmless, sheep.

_Four will spread it roots to five._

_Three of Thunder's blood, descended of the flame;_

_the falling snow,_

_the morning dew _

_and the amber clouds _

_must return to the place of before,_

_where four where five, _

_and return the sky to its rightful place._

He reeled off the words of the prophecy in his head. They had worked out that the place of the before was the old forest, but what remained of it now? Would it be another Twolegplace or would it just be in ruins; uprooted trees and such?

"Snowpaw!"

The white tom was torn from his thoughts by Dewpaw. The dark grey tom was waiting for him, Amberpaw at his side.

"I was thinking we should stop for a hunt, just quickly," he meowed, his tail flicking slowly from side to side, "I saw some rabbits and you never know when you'll have your next meal…"

Snowpaw smiled brightly, "Sure!" He bounded ahead of his littermates, quickly switching into hunting mode. It was time to try his paw at being a WindClan warrior. Those rabbits had better watch out.

The sky was a rich amber colour by the time they reached Highstones. A few clouds drifted along lazily, the setting sun casting a deep red light onto them. Despite the beautiful end to what had been a rather successful day, Snowpaw was still wary.

The wind had a bitter chill to it, warning of a cold night ahead of them. The stone beneath his paws was cool to touch and he could just make out, in the dim light, pawprints, generations old perhaps?

_Cats must been walking these paths since before Firestar even set a paw in the forest!_ Steep slopes of grey towered above the weary travellers, casting long shadows onto their pelts.

Snowpaw shivered, the wind tugging at his long white fur. There was a strange sort of atmosphere here, the white tom couldn't quite put a paw on it. It felt sort of eerie and deserted, it must've been moons since any cat had walked this path, a clan cat at least.

But there were also other emotions buried here, grief, ambition. Snowpaw swallowed nervously at the last emotion. They walked the paths of the old forest now, or what remained of it. This was where Tigerstar had been born and raised, Brokenstar too and of course, Hawkfrost was raised here.

So many bad cats.

That was when Snowpaw spotted something. A cave, the entrance to a cave at least.

Smiling triumphantly, he turned to his companions, "We have reached Mothermouth."

Amberpaw frowned at first, but Snowpaw quickly explained that was the name for the entrance to the cavern that housed the Moonstone.

Dewpaw looked as though he was about to say something when another voice reached Snowpaw's ears.

_"Come closer, the prophesised ones, sons and daughter of the sky."_

Snowpaw's amber gaze clouded. _Please say it was Amberpaw that said that._ He turned to his littermate, "What did you say?" he asked, his gaze questioning.

The grey-and-white patched apprentice frowned, "That wasn't me."

Snowpaw stood still for a moment, unable to take everything in. If that wasn't Amberpaw, and it couldn't have been Dewpaw, who was it? It couldn't be StarClan, they now resided in the skies above the lake, unless…

"I think it's coming from the Moonstone," Snowpaw meowed, his tone hushed. It seemed that then the whole world around them, stopped. They were frozen in time.

"Are you suggesting we go to the Moonstone?" Dewpaw queried, inclining his head, "Because that wasn't what we were told to do, we should just keep moving and find somewhere to stay for the night."

Snowpaw didn't utter a word and just gave a nod. The three exchanged glances before Dewpaw took a deep breath and began to pad towards Mothermouth, glancing over his shoulder to see if the others were following.

Snowpaw inhaled and exhaled then tentatively followed his brother. Amberpaw fell in behind him.

As they disappeared into the shadows of the cave, Snowpaw found himself holding his breath, apprehensive about what they could find in this sacred place.

Instantly the path, well worn by many pawsteps, began to dip down. Snowpaw's sight was completely blacked out and he had to rely on his other four senses to guide his paws.

All the white tom could hear was Dewpaw's pawsteps and Amberpaw's shaky breaths. The air down here was musty and earthy and made Snowpaw want to cough.

The white apprentice was worried he would crash into the cave wall any moment, but the path kept dragging on, until Dewpaw stopped.

Snowpaw froze, pelt bristling, "What is it?" he hissed nervously.

Dewpaw didn't respond, but started moving again. Snowpaw followed him into a large, poorly lit cavern. They had reached the Moonstone.

It was cold down here, even more so than outside, and the white tom, for once, was glad to have a long pelt. Ahead of him, silhouetted against the dim light that peeped in through a small crack in the roof, he could see a great stone._ The Moonstone._

Snowpaw stumbled forwards to his brother's side, unable to believe they had actually reached the Moonstone. Dewpaw didn't seem overly impressed, as far as the dark grey tom was concerned, it was just a big rock at the moment.

_Wait 'till the moon rises, then he'll be in awe of it._

Amberpaw spilled out from behind him, her amber eyes just distinguishable against the shadows. She seemed a little nervous down here, a little unsure of herself.

"I guess we just wait for the moon, now?" Dewpaw suggested, tilting his head to one side a little.

Snowpaw and Amberpaw nodded in unison. The three split up, finding a spot by the great stone to settle down on.

Snowpaw himself wanted to be as close to the Moonstone as possible and so sat down so that his pelt was almost pressing against the sacred rock. _And now we wait._

Snowpaw didn't realise he had drifted off, but when he opened his eyes again, he found the cavern to be very different. The moon hung directly above the cavern, splashing moonlight onto the Moonstone and bathing the cavern in a thick, eerie light.

The Moonstone appeared to be glowing a dazzling white colour and Snowpaw couldn't help but just stare at it, amber eyes stretched wide in awe. Dewpaw too seemed to be captured by the beauty of the legendary rock.

_"Sons and daughter of the sky, come closer."_

Snowpaw was in a daze. Slowly, he stepped forward, unable to resist the call of voices. The next thing he knew, the world melted to black and a wave of sleep crashed over him.

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**Ooh, a cliffie! Well, who do you think the voices belong to? What did you think of Snowpaw and the sheep incident? xD In his defence, sheep do make a really strange noise... Anyway, live, love, read and review!**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**

**-poofs-**


	12. Chapter Eleven: Old Friends

**Wow, longest chapter ever! I was going to post it yesterday, but I had my friend over for a sleepover, so yeah. ^^ We stayed up watching House of Anubis, season 1 'till about 11:00 PM. My friend has always wanted to watch House of Anubis, but doesn't have Nickelodeon and I've watched it already so I thought it might to be fun to watch it! We didn't finish the season though. :(**

**Anyway, interesting fact time... I am seriously running out of interesting facts. xD Anyway, this story was originally going to be about little Seedkit and Lilykit, them being the ones in the prophecy. The original prophecy was something like "Seeds of the sorrel and Lilies under the furled bracken, Of Thunder's pure blood, the saviours of the sky." Its was something like that. :D**

**I do not own Warrior, but I do own this story. :)**

**Review Replies:**

**Silverlightning97 - xD I love cliffies. They're what makes everyone review.**

**Wyldclaw - I have no idea how you guessed that. xD Nope, Amberpaw and Dewpaw certainly aren't going to let little Snowpaw forget about the sheep incident in a hurry! xD**

**icefire - I love Sheep. 3 xP And no, I checked on the map in Secrets of the Clans that spans from the lake to the old forest and you can go through Twolegplace instead of the mountains. :)**

**Raggedstar 3 - Oh, sorry about that! It's on my profile now if you want to check it out. :) Oh and Snowpaw and the sheep? xD I just had to add that in, lighten up the story, you know?**

**Numbah 227 - He he, it's so much easier to type that. xD Thanks, I love reading your reviews, they make me happy. :D I checked out a few of your stories, but I've not seen the Kids Next Door so I was a bit lost. xD I'll definitely watch out for any warriors stories by you though! :P**

**Spottedmoth123 - Thank you! :3**

**Orangeflight of ShadowClan - Aw, thank you! It was so hard keeping Amberpaw all quiet and stuff. xD She's usually so bubbly!**

**Anyway, live, love, read and review!**

* * *

_Dewpaw_

_"Sons and daughter of the sky, awaken."_

Dewpaw slowly blinked open tired eyes to find himself no longer at the Moonstone, but in a great starlit forest, "Whaaat? Where am I?" he frowned, blinking a few times to check whether this was really happening. A white pelt in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see Snowpaw standing beside him, flanked by Amberpaw.

The white tom glanced over at his brother, "StarClan," was all he said, before Dewpaw felt the ground collapse beneath him. The starlit forest slipped out of view and the dark grey apprentice found him flailing as he started to fall.

_THUD._ Dewpaw slammed against the ground. _Ouch._ Stiffly, the dark-furred tom rose to his paws to find himself in another part of the starlit forest, but this time his littermates weren't with him.

He frowned. He could hear the distant babble of a waterfall and the occasional cry of a bird, but other than that, all was quiet. Too quiet.

Ahead of him, a thick veil of mist secreted the rest of the forest from view. There was a slight chill in the air and a gentle breeze ruffled his thick grey fur.

Then, a rustle of leaves; pawsteps. Dewpaw's ears snapped forwards as he peered into the mist, "H-hello? W-w-who's t-there?" he meowed, stumbling over his words. The dark grey tom's heart started to beat quicker, the pawsteps were getting ever closer.

It was then that a cat emerged from the mist. Dewpaw gasped, stumbling backwards nervously. This cat reminded him a bit of when he met Cloudstar, except this cat appeared to be…. Fading?

A pure-white she-cat with dark blue eyes, Dewpaw hadn't ever seen this cat in his life before, at least he couldn't remember ever seeing her. Snowpaw had said that they were in StarClan, did that mean this was a StarClan warrior? _I thought StarClan moved with the clans to the lake?_

Before Dewpaw could say so much as a word, the slender white she-cat cut in, "Don't be afraid, Dewpaw," she mewed softly, her voice sweet and soothing, "My name's Frostfur, I was a ThunderClan warrior once, in the old forest."

Dewpaw stared at the white she-cat for a moment, unable to take everything in. _So wait, I'm in StarClan, but I'm not dead, and I'm talking to a StarClan warrior. Hang on…_

"Wait," the dark grey tom meowed suddenly, "You're Frostfur?"

The snowy-white she-cat smiled knowingly and gave a nod, "Indeed I am."

Dewpaw just stared at the she-cat for a moment. Her pelt was glimmering with starshine and for a moment, the dark grey tom was a little dazzled by it, "You're Frostfur," he echoed, amber gaze distant, "Brightheart said… You're Brightheart's mother. So that means"-

"We're kin," the white she-cat cut in, dark blue gaze running over the dark grey tom, "Yes, we're kin," she flicked her tail dismissively, "But that doesn't matter right now, we have far more important matters to discuss."

Dewpaw frowned, quite unable to believe he was talking to his deceased grandmother, "More important matters?" he wasn't sure what the white she-cat was talking about, "You mean the prophecy? Oh, we've worked that out, we know what we're doing."

The StarClan she-cat gave a chuckle, "I admire your confidence in yourself and your littermates," she purred softly, dark blue eyes dancing with amusement, "But you still have a difficult journey ahead. Although that's not what I wanted to talk about."

Dewpaw frowned, "What else _is_ there to talk about?" he asked, tilting his head to one side. He still didn't quite understand why the white she-cat was here; Honeyfern had told him that when the clans left for the lake, StarClan travelled with them, roaming far from the skies they had walked for so many moons. _Unless…_

"Your past," Frostfur cut into Dewpaw's thoughts, "We need to talk about your past," the dark grey tom was about to question her when she shook her head and began to talk again, "Your other past."

The dark-furred apprentice frowned, inclining his head, "Other past? What do you mean?" he asked, amber gaze clouding. _Other past?_ Dewpaw had just about been able to follow what she was saying until then, _What does she mean, other past? I was born in ThunderClan, raised in ThunderClan, I know my past!_

"Ah, you think you know everything," Frostfur sighed, gaze turning wistful as she shook her head, "I remember the days when I was like that," she let her dark blue eyes wander over the dark grey tom, "Silly me, getting distracted."

The StarClan warrior flicked her tail, motioning for Dewpaw to step closer. Warily, the dark grey tom obeyed, inching closer, amber eyes filled with suspicion.

"What I'm about to tell you," Frostfur meowed, her voice scarcely audible, "You can only repeat to your littermates. And you must be mature about this as well, can you promise me you will be?"

Dewpaw wondered what on earth the old white she-cat was going on about, but nodded grimly anyway, "Yeah, yeah, I promise," he just wanted to know now, the suspense was killing him! What if it was really bad news, like he was going to die or something!

"You were chosen for this quest for a specific reason," Frostfur began, tearing him away from his dark thoughts, "Yes, you possess the qualities required for such a quest, but there is another reason," she leaned in close to the dark-furred apprentice, glancing over her shoulder briefly, "You and your littermates were all SkyClan cats once."

Dewpaw froze. _SkyClan cats? What? Does that mean I'm a reincarnation?_ He fixed the white she-cat with a puzzled stare, "Your joking, right?" He studied the pure white she-cat for a moment, she had to be joking. He wasn't a SkyClan cat, he was Dewpaw, brave apprentice of ThunderClan! _No,_ he shook his head, _I'm not a SkyClan cat._

"I don't joke," Frostfur replied simply, her expression deadly serious, "You are the reincarnation of an ancient SkyClan warrior, by the name of Sparrowclaw," her blue gaze turned distant, "He was a wise and brave warrior, a little foolish at times, but none the less, a skilled warrior, especially in battle."

Dewpaw could tell now that she definitely wasn't joking, "I-I'm the reincarnation of Sparrowclaw?" he echoed, stammering a little, "What does that mean? Am I still Dewpaw? Do I have to be called Sparrowpaw now or something?" his expression turned a little worried, he was Dewpaw, not Sparrowclaw! He didn't want to be anyone else, he just wanted to be himself!

The white-furred she-cat chuckled softly, "Of course not, young one. You should be grateful in fact," he paused to take a breath, "You will often have memories of Sparrowclaw's life, which should help you in finding the gorge. Oh no, being the reincarnation of Sparrowclaw definitely has more positives than negatives."

Dewpaw heaved a sigh, feeling a little more comfortable with this situation. He may be the reincarnation of a SkyClan warrior, but he was ThunderClan through and through and as soon as he finished his quest, he intended on returning to ThunderClan once more. No, he may be Sparrowclaw in spirit, but he was Dewpaw in everything else.

_Snowpaw_

The white tom stumbled backwards in disbelief, quite unable to believe what the pale tabby she-cat had just revealed. _I'm the reincarnation of Littlepool? How on earth did that happen and what does it mean? Why me, why not someone else?_

Snowpaw wasn't quite sure how to react to this piece of information. Part of him felt at ease, as if something had released inside him whilst the other part of him was shocked and confused at the same time. Sure, having the memories of an ancient SkyClan cat would probably help with finding the gorge and such, but he was still a little upset at the news.

"Don't worry," Speckletail's mew cut through his thoughts, "I know you must feel like you don't know who you are anymore, but don't lose hope," she rested her chin on his head for a few moments, "You're going to need it in the next few moons."

The snow-furred tom didn't respond at first, trying to comprehend everything that had just happened. _Just breathe, Snowpaw, breathe._ He swallowed and took a deep breath, "W-who was Littlepool? I mean, what was he like?" he asked, amber gaze flickering nervously over the StarClan she-cat.

Speckletail thought for a moment, amber gaze clouding, "Well, he was a thoughtful young tom, kind considerate"- she broke off as if she had suddenly remembered something. Glancing over her shoulder, she gave a flick of her tail, "But I think I know someone who might be able to explain about him a little better."

Snowpaw frowned, trying to peer through the trees at what or who the pale tabby StarClan warrior was indicating to. It was then that a small, short-furred ginger-and-white she-cat came striding out from the cover of the starlit oaks, her pelt bright with starshine.

Her green eyes lit up with recognition upon spotting Snowpaw and she quickly bounded over, a smile spreading across her face.

"This," Speckletail meowed, smiling, "Is Ivysplash, Littlepool's sister," she explained.

The pure white tom just stared at the ginger-and-white she-cat for a moment. He wasn't quite taking everything in and still felt thoroughly confused, but managed a small, "Hi."

Ivysplash purred, green eyes dancing with happiness, "You sound just like Littlepool," she meowed brightly, studying the white tom for a moment, "You look just like him too, well, sort of. He had a few patches of grey here and there."

Snowpaw didn't utter a word. He was unsure how to feel about Ivysplash; sure, she seemed nice enough, but he couldn't imagine her being his sister, although in personality, her and Amberpaw were very alike.

"I know you probably feel confused and alone," Ivysplash meowed, tone sympathetic, "But remember, you are Snowpaw, really you are. It's just a little bit of you is Littlepool as well."

The white apprentice nodded slowly, amber orbs running over the ginger-and-white warrior.

Ivysplash smiled warmly, "You should be proud, Littlepool was a wonderful warrior; kind and gentle, but with a fighting spirit. He trained many apprentices into excellent warriors and he was very intelligent, he even trained the future deputy!"

Snowpaw managed a smile, he was growing to like Littlepool; he must have been a great warrior if he trained the future deputy!

Ivysplash grinned, "See, it's not all that bad! I would love to get a second chance as a warrior," her green gaze turned wistful and she looked away.

Speckletail touched her tail to Ivysplash's shoulder briefly before turning her attention to the snow-furred tom, "It's almost dawn," she informed him, "You must wake up soon."

The white tom nodded slowly, when suddenly a question hit him, "Wait," he meowed, "Before, you leave, can I ask you a question?"

The pale tabby gave him a puzzled look, but nodded, "Yes, of course?"

Snowpaw studied Speckletail for a moment, "Cinderpelt said that when the clans moved to the lake, StarClan moved with them, so why are you here?"

The StarClan she-cat chuckled to herself, eyes glimmering with amusement, "I was an elder when the clans moved to the lake," she meowed, "Along with Frostfur and a few other elders, I stayed in the old forest as I was simply too old for the journey. When I died, I didn't want to move to the lake still, so I stayed here, with a few old friends," she nodded to Ivysplash, "We often visit the SkyClan ancestors, so we have them for company as well."

Snowpaw nodded in understanding.

The pale tabby she-cat smiled, "Now, dawn is on the horizon, you must join you littermates once more."

The white tom nodded, "Goodbye, and thank you!" closing his eyes, he felt the ground give way beneath him as his vision bled to darkness.

_Amberpaw_

When the grey-and-white apprentice awoke to dawn light streaming in through the crack in the cave roof, she felt a lot happier, at peace almost. Goldenstorm had visited her in her dream and told her to make the most of life, that she had been given a second chance for a reason. She was to live her life to the fullest, find love again, meet new cats. The golden-furred tom had specifically told her she couldn't dwell on the past and had to make the most of today and the future.

Slowly blinking, Amberpaw rose to her paws, glancing over at her littermates. Snowpaw had just awoken, but Dewpaw was still asleep, his chest rising and falling as he breathed.

The grey and white she-cat smirked and wandered over to the dark grey tom. Prodding him with a paw, she yowled, "Wake up, Dewpaw!"

The apprentice immediately jerked awake, amber eyes stretched wide with shock, "Amberpaw!" he hissed, "Why'd you do that?"

The grey-and-white she-cat grinned, "We need to get going," she meowed, doing an impression of her brother, amber eyes glowing with amusement, "Now, C'mon, get up!"

Dewpaw smiled, rising to his paws, "Okay, okay, just don't do it again, okay?"

The she-cat nodded, glancing over at Snowpaw. The white tom looked a little dazed and was slowly wandering over to his littermates.

Amberpaw gave him a reassuring smile, touching her tail to his shoulder, "What did you dream about?" she enquired, tilting her head, "No more prophecies I hope?" her amber eyes sparkled with amusement.

The white tom shook his head slowly, "I'll tell you about it when we get out of here," he meowed, glancing around the cavern nervously. Amberpaw nodded, she had to admit, it was a little creepy down there.

"Let's go then," Dewpaw meowed, taking the lead and padding towards the tunnel that lead upwards to the outside world.

Snowpaw glanced sideways at Amberpaw before bounding after his brother. The grey-and-white she-cat smiled, falling in behind the white tom.

It was only when they stepped into the dawn sunlight that Amberpaw could heave a sigh of relief. Although she found the Moonstone beautiful and mystical, there was no hiding how eerie it was down in the cavern.

It was a beautiful day, the sky was mainly cloudy but the sun had somehow managed to break through the thick barrier of grey in some places and was shining down on Amberpaw and her littermates.

"So, what was your dream about, then?" the grey-and-white she-cat asked, amber orbs resting on Snowpaw.

The white apprentice looked a little uneasy and heaved a sigh, "I met a cat, Speckletail," he began cautiously, "She told me… She told me I was the reincarnation of a cat, an ancient SkyClan cat."

The grey-and-white apprentice froze, amber eyes stretching wide. So she wasn't the only one! She peered at Snowpaw curiously, inclining her head and nodding for him to continue.

"Speckletail told me I was the reincarnation of a cat named Littlepool," he swallowed nervously, searching his littermates' expressions for a reaction.

There was a silence for a moment, before Amberpaw decided to speak, "I've got a confession," she began, eyeing her brothers, "The night before we left Twolegplace, I had a dream. A cat named Goldenstorm came to me and he told me I was the reincarnation of a cat named Amberstar, a cat who tried to reform SkyClan once, but failed."

Dewpaw's eyes stretched wide with envy, "How come _you_ got to be a clan leader? I was just an ordinary warrior of SkyClan!"

Amberpaw stared at her brother. _So we were all SkyClan warriors once. That must've been why we were chosen for the quest. But why were we all in the same litter of kits, is that just a coincidence, or was it meant to happen?_

Snowpaw seemed a little uncomfortable at the whole conversation. _Probably a little unsure of himself,_ the grey-and-white patched she-cat realised. In all honesty, there was still an inkling of doubt in the back of her mind, but she had learnt to overcome it and realise who she really was. _Amberpaw._

Changing the subject, Amberpaw meowed, "Should we get going then?"

Dewpaw nodded, eyeing the grey-and-white she-cat, "Should we go hunting first? There should be some prey around here, somewhere."

Amberpaw nodded. Hunting was just the thing to take her mind off everything, the prophecy and her past life. That was all she really wanted right now, to get away from it all.

"That looks like the barn at Horseplace."

Snowpaw's mew tore Amberpaw from her thoughts. With her belly full from their earlier hunting trip, the grey-and-white apprentice let her amber gaze wander to where the white tom was indicating with his feathered tail.

On the horizon, silhouetted by the fading sunlight, Amberpaw could just make out a tall wooden structure, a twoleg barn. She studied it for a moment, thoughts running through her mind.

_"Near the old forest, you may come across an old barn. You may find some old friends of the clans there."_ The amber-eyed apprentice remembered Briarlight's words from one of her dreams. _Wait._

"Ravenpaw and Barley's barn!" the she-cat exclaimed, bouncing about with excitement, "This could be Ravenpaw and Barley's barn!"

Snowpaw stared at her in disbelief, "You mean _the_ Ravenpaw? The one Greystripe always talks about? The one who was driven from ThunderClan by _Tigerstar_?" he spat the last name. Although the white tom hadn't been alive during Tigerstar's time, in the battle of darkness he'd seen the former ShadowClan leader battling with Firestar through the nursery wall.

Amberpaw nodded, "Yup!" she meowed brightly, "Perhaps we could go and see them?" the grey-and-white ThunderClan apprentice suggested, "After all, if we tell them we're the kits of Cloudtail and Brightheart, they might be welcoming. He knew Cloudtail, didn't he?"

Dewpaw laughed, "Ravenpaw was the one who found Cloudtail stuck in a twoleg nest, mewling pitifully to be let free!"

Amberpaw smiled, remembering the tale Sandstorm had told of how Cloudtail had gone back to Twolegplace. She found it hard to picture her father, a brave and fierce warrior who wasn't afraid of speaking his mind, stuck in a twoleg nest, wailing for help. Amberpaw chuckled at the thought.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Snowpaw yowled over his shoulder as he bounded ahead, in the direction of the old barn.

The grey-and-white apprentice grinned, "Wait for me!" she raced after the white tom, heart thundering against her chest. This was how it should be, spending time with her littermates, without the worry of a prophecy hanging over their heads.

They reached the barn quickly, moving at the pace they did. This barn was definitely a lot bigger than the one at Horseplace.

In the fading light, Amberpaw couldn't make much out about the surroundings of the great twoleg structure. With the fresh scent of twolegs in the air, the grey-and-white she-cat was a little wary.

"Do we just go in?"

Amberpaw gave Dewpaw a cold stare, "No, because _that_ would be rude," she meowed, rolling her eyes.

"What are you youngsters doing hanging around here? Are you lost kittypets, because I'm sure we can help you find home?"

All three littermates froze as a cat emerged from the shadows of the barn. A small black tom with a dash of white on his chest and a grey flecked muzzle, he looked to be of an old age.

"Kittypets?" Dewpaw snarled, pelt bristling, "I'm a warrior!" he turned up his nose in disgust.

Amberpaw shot a glare at her brother. _Dewpaw, can't you see? This is Ravenpaw!_

"We're not warriors yet," Snowpaw reminded his brother gently before turning his attention back to Ravenpaw, "I'm sorry about him."

The black tom looked far from offended by Dewpaw's words, in fact, there was amusement dancing in his amber eyes, "Don't worry. Warriors you say? From the clans?"

Amberpaw opened her mouth to explain, but Ravenpaw cut her off, "Wait, why don't you come inside of the barn and then you can explain," he gestured to a large crack in the wall of the nearby barn.

Amberpaw smiled and dipped her head to the small black tom before nodding to her littermates. Ravenpaw had begun to lead the way into the barn, his pelt merging with the shadows.

The grey-and-white furred she-cat followed the black loner, sliding under the crack in the barn wall and into the warmth and shelter of the great twoleg structure. Snowpaw and Dewpaw followed, hot on her heels.

Sprawled out in the hay was a black-and-white tom, his eyes closed and his breaths raspy. As soon as Ravenpaw touched his muzzle to his shoulder, the tom awoke, "Barley, we have visitors!"

Blinking open his eyes, Barley peered over at the three littermates, amber eyes clouding with curiousity, "Who are these young 'uns then?" he rasped.

Amberpaw smiled brightly, dipping her head, "I'm Amberpaw," she told the two loner toms, "And this is Snowpaw," she nodded to the white tom and was about to introduce her other brother when Dewpaw cut in.

"And I'm Dewpaw."

Barley looked a little amused by their names, clan names. Many non-clan cats found clan names strange, so it wasn't all that surprising.

Ravenpaw purred, "You're from ThunderClan, I'm guessing?" he ran his amber gaze over the three cats, "You smell like ThunderClan."

Snowpaw puffed out his white chest fur, "ThunderClan and proud," he declared with a huge grin.

"My, my," Ravenpaw gasped, amber eyes stretching wide, "You must have travelled far, I trust you know who we are if you've come to visit us elders. Tell me, how can we help you? What brings you here?" he let his eyes wander over Snowpaw one more time, "And forgive me in asking this, but you look like a cat I used to know, are you related to Cloudtail?"

Amberpaw smiled, "We just need somewhere to stay the night really, if that's too much to ask," she mewed shyly, quite unable to believe she was talking to the legend that was Ravenpaw. The apprentice had heard about him in nursery tales, she'd never thought she'd actually meet him! "There's this prophecy, see, about returning SkyClan to the lake and stuff," she sighed, "It's kind of complicated."

Realising she hadn't answered the dark-furred tom's last question, she was about to meow when Dewpaw cut in, "Cloudtail's our father," he meowed proudly, carrying his head high.

Ravenpaw nodded, "It sounds like you've got a lot to worry about, don't worry, I won't ask any unnecessary questions," he glanced over at his companion, "And I'm sure you can stay the night here, right Barley?"

The black-and-white tom grunted an agreement.

"Now," Ravenpaw cast his gaze over the three apprentice, "Have you eaten? Because there's lots of mice in the barn so you're welcome to help yourself."

Amberpaw shook her head, "We've already eaten, thanks," she meowed, amber eyes bright. It was reassuring to be with Ravenpaw. The black tom wasn't asking any unwanted questions and had just accepted them right away with welcoming paws, like old friends.

"Cloudtail's kits," Ravenpaw meowed with a chuckle, "Tell me, how are things in ThunderClan?" something sparked in his eyes when he mentioned ThunderClan.

Snowpaw smiled, amber eyes sparkling with pride, "ThunderClan is great! Cloudtail, Brightheart, Greystripe, Sandstorm and Dustpelt have all retired. Whitewing, our older sister, she had kits, just after coming to the lake I think, Dovewing and Ivypool. Sorreltail had more kits, Lilystream and _Seedflight"_ – the white-furred apprentice broke off at the mention of the light ginger she-cat.

Amberpaw chuckled and decided to take over for her brother, "Poppyfrost and Berrynose's kits, Cherrypaw and Molepaw were made warriors. What else… Oh yeah, there was the battle against the place of no stars, but we won so that was fine. Oh! And then Cinderheart and Lionblaze had the cutest kits! Oh, and Leafpool's medicine cat again and"-

"Woah!" Ravenpaw's amused purr cut her off, "Slow down a little. How on earth did the clans, living cats, battle against the place of no stars, dead cats?"

Amberpaw stared at the black tom blankly, "I have absolutely no idea," she admitted.

"How's Firestar then, and tell me Sandstorm is the grumpiest elder to ever walk the clans? And what about Ferncloud, didn't she retire with Dustpelt?" Ravenpaw asked, amusement dancing in his amber gaze.

There was a hush. Amberpaw's face fell, "Firestar?" she echoed, amber gaze clouding, "Firestar died in the battle against the dark forest, Tigerstar killed him," she paused, amber orbs darting from side to side, "And Ferncloud also died in the battle against the dark forest."

Ravenpaw fell silent, eyes clouding with grief, "He saved my life," he mumbled, staring down at his paws, "Firestar was one of the greatest leaders to ever walk the clans, he was a hero, our saviour," he swallowed nervously, "I tell you what, why don't you get some sleep? You need to have all your strength for this prophecy thing."

Amberpaw nodded slowly. She felt so guilty, _Poor Ravenpaw, he and Firestar must have been best friends._

"He's right," Snowpaw meowed, nodding to his littermates, "tomorrow we venture into old clan territory."

Amberpaw nodded settling down in the straw and casting one last glance at Ravenpaw, who had settled next to Barley. They had a big day tomorrow, and they were going to need all their strength.

* * *

**What did you think? Don't you just love Ravenpaw and Barley, good old Ravenpaw. I imagine Barley being a bit like Purdy as an elder. :) What did you think about their former lives as well, did you expect it?**

**Anyway, live, love, read and review!**

**This is Leafsplash, signing out!**

**-rides into the sunset on a blue llama-**


	13. Chapter Twelve: The Place of Before

**Well, another nice long chappie for my loyal, much-loved reviewers! I'm sorry for updating late, I'll try and update quicker in future, life's just a bit hectic at the moment, y'know?**

**Anyway, no interesting fact this week. :( I couldn't think of one...**

**I thought I'd take the time now to tell you that we've finally booked our holiday (or vacation to you Americans!) for the summer! It's on a greek island for two weeks, so I won't be update then, probably. I may try writing the chapters in advance, then posting them when we're there so you don't have to miss out (we have wi-fi there, luckily).**

**Anyway, I do not own Warriors. If I did, Silverstream, Feathertail and Honeyfern would all still be alive, Berrynose and Honeyfern would have kits and Lionblaze would be the supreme leader of all the clans. xD**

**Time for review replies! :D**

**Moonlight Demise - He he, originally Snowpaw and Dewpaw weren't going to be reincarnations, but then a few people suggested it in reviews and I decided, why should Amberpaw be the only one? In the very beginning, none of them were going to be reincarnated. xD I change my mind a lot. Glad to hear you're enjoying this anyway. :3**

**Numbuh 227 - Thank you! And I'll keep my eyes open for any warriors stories by you. :)**

**Orange - Littlepool and Tinycloud, yes. :) I was intending for them to have similar names, SkyClan-like names. They're actually related, which is also why their names are similar. Thank you! ^^**

**Wyldclaw - I know I would love to be a reincarnation of a SkyClan cat. xD Yeah, I kind of felt bad for Ravenpaw writing this. Hearing your best friend, who saved your live from a crazy evil cat, has died must've been awful. I feel for the little guy.**

**kittenWhisperer - Hey there! :D xDD Aww, you cried? :') I wasn't quite aiming it for it to be emotional so that came as a bit of surprise to me. xD In the next book, there are a lot of really emotional scenes, so if you cried at this, you will be crying oceans when you read them. I don't want to give anything else away about the next books though so I'm just going to edge away slowly... xPP**

**icefire - xDDD I'm obsessed with llamas and ducks, quite literally, especially blue llamas and the annoying purple duck. He he, I love Amberpaw, she's so fun to write about, especially her 'special moments' like that one.**

**Raggedstar 3 - Everyone loves Ravenpaw! 3 Hear that Ravenpaw, we Love you!**

**Bramblenoname - Aww, thank you! :3**

* * *

_Dewpaw_

It took a while to get away from Ravenpaw and Barley. The two loners can't have seen any other cats for moons and Ravenpaw particularly was very chatty, asking them to tell Greystripe and Sandstorm to say 'hi' from him and such requests.

In the end, it was Amberpaw, surprisingly, that managed to persuade the two old toms that they needed to get going with the excuse, _"We have to go save the world! Well, SkyClan at least."_ It was a bit of an exaggeration, but in Amberpaw's defence, to some cats SkyClan _was_ their whole world.

The dark furred tom's only hope was that they weren't too late to save SkyClan. That was one thing that had been bugging Dewpaw actually, as they started out on the next phase of their journey, what if they _didn't _fulfil the prophecy? What if they were too late? What if they didn't make the journey?

The ThunderClan apprentice had tried to shake the worries from his head, but had failed. Because these weren't just the silly little worries of a kit, like 'what if I don't like my mentor' or 'What if I never become a warrior?'. No, these weren't ridiculous little things like that, these were serious problems. If they _were_ too late, they could be responsible for the death of many cats.

The truth was, neither of the three apprentices knew how serious the situation with SkyClan was. They could have moons to spare until the situation became desperate or they could be on the brink of not being able to save them.

Dewpaw gave a sigh. It was no use worrying about such things, they couldn't actually do anything until they got to the gorge. He glanced sideways at his littermates, _We have to get there faster then._

"We need to cover a lot of ground today," he meowed, amber gaze returning to the path ahead, "I want us to reach the gorge within the next quarter-moon, it shouldn't be too hard, we just have to keep up a steady pace," he let his dark amber orbs flit over his littermates for a moment.

"'Kay," Snowpaw mumbled absently. Judging from the distant look in his bright amber eyes, his mind was already preoccupied by other matters. Dewpaw's guess was that he was thinking of Seedflight; his whiskers tended to twitch when he was thinking of the pale ginger she-cat and he had that same look in his eyes.

The dark grey tom smirked. He was a little more tolerant of love in general, he used to get so fed up of warriors being lovey-dovey over another, but this journey had changed him. Dewpaw still wasn't looking for a female friend anytime soon, but he had learnt to accept it. Snowpaw and Seedflight obviously both liked each other, more than just friends, it was just a matter of time until they took things further.

Amberpaw's mew tore Dewpaw from his thoughts, "It shouldn't take too long to reach the old territory," she murmured thoughtfully, "Ravenpaw said it took about a day to reach it from the barn."

The dark-furred apprentice gave a nod, flicking his tail as he did so. Turning his attention to the pale grey-and-white she-cat (he didn't even bother attempting conversation with Snowpaw, the white tom was far to engrossed in his thoughts), he meowed out of the blue, "Do you think ThunderClan miss us? Do you think they've forgotten about us already?"

Amberpaw was completely unprepared for an answer, "ThunderClan?" she echoed, a frown creasing her features, "I'm sure they miss us, some of them at least," she broke off, bright amber gaze trailing away from her brother, "We've only been gone for… How long have we been gone?"

The ThunderClan tom stared at the patched she-cat for a moment, "Three quarters of a moon, I think?" his thoughts trailed back to last night, to what stage the moon's cycle had been at. _Yes_, the full moon would be full in about a quarter-moon so they had been travelling three quarters of a moon.

_Wow, three quarters of a moon away from ThunderClan, away from the lake… If we'd stayed, we'd surely be warriors now, or almost warriors at least. We could've even been having our ceremony right now!_

Dewpaw was glad they'd set out on this journey though. Not that they had much of a choice, but he was a better cat for it already. He'd finally been able to demonstrate to his littermates his leadership skills and he'd really tidied up his hunting skills. If he'd stayed by the lake, he would have been a normal apprentice having a normal apprenticeship and eventually becoming a warrior, a completely normal and uninteresting one of that.

The dark-pelted tom didn't want to be normal. He didn't want Dewpaw to be a name that cats forgot, he wanted it to be spoke of with awe. _Dewpaw, wait, Dewstorm!_ He grinned to himself, _Dewstorm, legendary warrior of ThunderClan!_

Dewpaw didn't want to be forgotten, he wanted to be remembered. He wanted to be Dewstorm, the great warrior of ThunderClan that rose to become Dewstar, the greatest leader to ever lead ThunderClan. He wanted to be the cat elders told every kit about in the future.

Puffing out his chest the dark grey tom made a promise to himself. _I won't just be Dewpaw, I'll be Dewstar, one day._

_Seedflight_

Whilst, many miles away, three cats journeyed across a windswept ridge, their sights firmly set on the moors ahead, five very excited kits were being fussed over by a very proud mother.

Because today was the Apprentice Ceremony of ThunderClan's notorious troublemakers, Pebblekit, Puddlekit, Honeykit, Stormkit and Mosskit. Seedflight had volunteered to help Cinderheart get them ready for the ceremony as grooming five kits single-pawed was easier said than done, especially when they all wanted to prove they could do it themselves, which was most certainly _not _true.

Whilst Cinderheart tended to a squirming Honeykit, Seedflight had been given the job of tidying up Stormkit. The dark grey tom was very reluctant to be helped at first, insisting he was six moons and therefor old enough to take care of himself, but eventually he gave in to the pale ginger she-cat's demands.

And now, as Seedflight rasped her tongue over Stormkit's ear (to which he screwed up his face in disgust), the ThunderClan warrior's thoughts were cast to if she ever were to have kits. The pale ginger warrior absolutely adored kits and although she certainly had to intention of having kits anytime soon, she loved the idea of having kits one day. And she knew who exactly who she wanted the father of her kits to be, if he wanted to be at least.

Snowpaw had been gone for exactly three quarters of a moon now. Seedflight knew this because she'd been counting each day since the white tom's disappearance and each day that passed without the snowy-pelted apprentice, the pale ginger she-cat felt herself losing faith.

Seedflight knew that Snowpaw wasn't dead. He would've visited her dreams if he had died, he wouldn't leave her for StarClan without saying goodbye, he just wasn't like that. His littermates had disappeared along with him, so there was bound to be a reason for leaving, he wouldn't just abandon ThunderClan.

The whole situation reminded Seedflight of the tales she'd heard of when Brambleclaw, now Bramblestar, had disappeared off with Squirrelpaw, Squirrelflight, and four other cats from the other clans on the journey to find Midnight. Seedflight knew it couldn't be to find Midnight this time, but they must have an intention for leaving, a place they needed to find or a cat for that matter.

The pale ginger she-cat sighed, realising that she'd finished grooming Stormkit and releasing him. The dark grey tom grinned excitedly, dark blue eyes bright as he scampered away to join Honeykit. The golden brown tabby she-kit had also finished her vigorous washing session with her mother and was waiting patiently by the Nursery entrance, a smirk plastered across her face and her bright green eyes focused on the hollow outside.

Pebblekit and Puddlekit were also accompanying their sister, both finding it impossible to sit still, every now and then shivering with excitement. They were just waiting on Mosskit now, whom Cinderheart was tending to.

"Hey, Honeykit!" Nettlekit came bounding over to the golden brown tabby she-kit, his pale green gaze muddled with emotions, the most obvious ones being anxiety, yet happiness for his denmate. Upon reaching Honeykit, the small tom nudged her playfully, "Wait for me in the Apprentices' Den," he meowed, smiling, "Don't forget about me," although his last comment was meant jokingly, there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

Honeykit smiled shyly, "I will, and of course I won't forget about you, mouse-brain!" she nudged him back gently, "You're my best friend, why on earth would I forget about you?" her green eyes danced with amusement, "Just promise you won't find yourself another best friend?"

Nettlekit nodded enthusiastically, "Of course not!"

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Highledge for a clan meeting!" Bramblestar's yowl rang out loud and clear throughout the hollow. All five kits let out a squeal of delight and Mosskit managed to wriggle out from her mother's grasp.

Outside, the sound of cats emerging from dens could be heard when a broad-shouldered golden tabby tom stopped outside the entrance to the nursery. Lionblaze peered inside, amber gaze filled with pride when he spotted his kits and mate, "Are you five ready?" he asked, smiling widely.

Pebblekit bounded up to his father, shortly followed by his littermates, "I was born ready!" the golden tabby tom-kit declared, puffing out his tiny chest.

Seedflight shared a glance with Cinderheart, dipping her head to the queen before slipping past Lionblaze and his kits and out into the hollow.

Almost the whole clan had now gathered below the highledge, murmurs rippling amongst the collected ThunderClan members. Many were exchanged excited words of how they hoped they'd be a mentor whilst others mumbled about how troublesome the five kits were.

One conversation in particular caught Seedflight's ears. Sitting down next to Lilystream, she perked up her ears in the direction the words had come from.

"At last, some apprentices. Hopefully these ones won't desert us like the last three."

The words had come from Dustpelt's jaws and were spoken to Thornclaw, whom had just retired to the Elders' Den. Seedflight bristled, silently fuming, _Snowpaw didn't desert ThunderClan! Neither of them did! They wouldn't desert us, I know they wouldn't, not Snowpaw._

The pale ginger warrior didn't hear Thornclaw's response, for Bramblestar had started to speak again from his spot on the Highledge.

"Cats of ThunderClan," the dark brown tabby began, voice bouncing off the walls of the hollow and echoing around the camp, "Although Leaf-bare sets in, we have continued to prove that, although it's cold and although prey is scarce, we will remain strong," he let his amber gaze wash over each and every gathered member of the clan, "We have had several new litters of kits, future warriors: Redkit, Lakekit, Nettlekit, Flamekit and Finchkit."

At the mentions of their names, each kit's eyes filled with pride and awe at the thought of being a warrior.

Bramblestar continued, "But today it's about five other kits. Pebblekit, Puddlekit, Honeykit, Stormkit and Mosskit, please step forward," the dark brown tabby motioned for the five excited kits to step forward.

They obeyed, excitedly stepping forwards from the shadows of Lionblaze and Cinderheart. Each kit gazed up at Bramblestar with such admiration and eagerness, Seedflight couldn't help but remember her own apprentice ceremony.

The pale ginger she-cat had been so excited, as had Lilystream. When the dark brown tabby had announced her mentor, Ivypool, Seedflight had felt like she might burst with pride. It looked like these five kits felt exactly the same way as she had.

"Pebblekit," Bramblestar began, his dark amber eyes falling to the firstborn of the five kits, "From this day, you will be known as Pebblepaw."

The golden tabby apprentice looked like he could explode with excitement, but he somehow managed to hold everything in. Seedflight admired the young tom's self-control.

To her right, Cinderheart and Lionblaze were watching, eyes dancing with pride and pelts brushing, a mixture of golden and grey fur. Seedflight smiled, letting her green gaze return to Pebblepaw.

_Ah, Pebblepaw._ Being the ringleader, the golden tabby tom always got in the most trouble. During his six moons, he had gotten into the Medicine Cat's Den and eaten half a dried nettle leaf, gotten stuck behind the nursery, managed to climb the highledge and snuck into the Warriors' Den. It was safe to say that it was a relief for everyone to see him finally apprenticed. At last he'd have a purpose, training keeping him occupied most of the day and therefor giving him less time to cause trouble.

"I," the dark brown tabby tom meowed, smirking, "will be mentor to Pebblepaw. I've found myself with a lot of time to myself recently and could do with an apprentice to fill that time. I will pass on all that Firestar taught me to you, Pebblepaw."

The golden tabby apprentice looked like he could pass out with disbelief. He was the apprentice of the clan leader after all, whom had been mentored by Firestar, ThunderClan's previous leader, who had also been mentored by the clan leader before that, Bluestar. _He has a lot to live up to,_ Seedflight pondered, her bright green eyes resting on Pebblepaw, _He has a lot of promise though, despite his troublesome streak. I can see why Bramblestar chose him as his apprentice._

Bramblestar touched noses to his new apprentice, muttering encouraging words to the awe-struck young apprentice before resuming the ceremony.

The next to be called forward was Puddlekit. The very pale grey tom was quivering with excitement as he stepped forwards, his amber eyes glowing. Seedflight had to admit, Puddlekit reminded her a lot of Blackstar. Although pale grey, the tom kit had black paws, just like the former ShadowClan leader, and black ear tips, though unlike Blackstar, Puddlekit had amber eyes, whereas Blackstar's eyes had been yellow.

"Puddlepaw, from this moment you shall be known as Puddlepaw."

Puddlepaw grinned widely, his head carried high in a dignified manner. He glanced around anxiously, obviously wondering who his mentor was to be.

"Berrynose, you have proved yourself a fine warrior and it's time you had an apprentice of your own. I mentored you myself and I trust you will pass on all you know to Puddlepaw," Bramblestar meowed, eyes glowing with pride as he picked out his former apprentice.

Berrynose looked beyond delighted to be chosen as a mentor and shared excited glances with Poppyfrost before padding forward, head held high and stumpy tail waggling, to greet his new apprentice.

Puddlepaw looked delighted, not all put off that his brother had received the clan leader as his mentor, and touched noses to the cream-furred tom. The pale grey tom had every right to be happy with Bramblestar's choice of mentor; Berrynose was a fine warrior, even if he did go on about it quite a lot.

The pale ginger warrior smiled at the young apprentice. In Pebblepaw's little gang, Puddlepaw was the 'deputy'. A bit of a joker, but very kind and a little arrogant at times, he was perfectly suited to his mentor.

The third of the litter, Honeykit, was called forward next. Seedflight noticed that Bramblestar was calling forward the kits in order of their age.

"Honeykit, from this day you will be known as Honeypaw."

The pale ginger she-cat beamed at the newly named Honeypaw. The golden brown tabby she-cat was a little quieter than Pebblepaw and Puddlepaw, though very caring and honest. At times, the young apprentice could be sensitive though, so she needed a gentle, forgiving mentor.

So, it came as a great surprise when Bramblestar called her name, "Seedflight."

The pale ginger warrior went rigid with shock, vibrant green eyes stretching wide with disbelief. Had she heard correctly? Had she just been announced as a mentor?

Lilystream nudged her encouragingly, amber eyes filling with warmth, "Go Seedflight!"

On shaking legs, the young warrior rose, green eyes locking with Bramblestar's for a moment. _Me? A mentor? But I've only just become a warrior, there are cats far more suited, far more experienced._

Bramblestar continued as Seedflight slowly walked forward to greet her new apprentice, "Seedflight, though young, you are very mature for your age. You're kind, trustworthy and intelligent, exactly what is needed for young Honeypaw here," he nodded to the golden brown tabby she-cat.

Still in shock, Seedflight stepped towards to Honeypaw and touched nose with the young cat. The golden brown tabby's eyes were filled with excitement, obviously thrilled at her choice of mentor.

Seedflight, although still unable to believe this wasn't just a dream, shared the same thrill. To be picked a mentor so soon after finishing her _own_ apprenticeship was a great honour and the pale ginger she-cat was determined to make Honeypaw the best warrior she could be.

Bramblestar flicked his tail, motioning for them to resume their places in the crowd of gathered cats once more. Seedflight obeyed, making her way back to her place next to Lilystream, who quickly congratulated her, "A mentor! Wow, way to go Seedflight!"

"Stormkit, from this moment you will be known as Stormpaw."

Though Bramblestar continued to speak, Seedflight wasn't quite listening. She was just trying to take in everything that had just happened, _I'm a mentor. I'm a mentor._

"Whitewing, you will be Stormpaw's mentor. You shaped Icecloud into a warrior to be proud of. Being kind and intelligent, but firm when needed to be, I know you will prove an excellent mentor to young Stormpaw. I _know_ you will pass on all that Brackenfur taught you to Stormpaw."

The slender white she-cat stepped forward gracefully to touch noses with a quivering Stormpaw. The young tom was the second youngest of the litter and tended to spend his time with his younger sister, Mosskit, and Redkit, rather than his other littermates. Stormpaw lacked in confidence most of the time and was very sensitive, but deep down he had the heart of a lion, Seedflight knew he'd make a fine warrior.

Once Stormpaw stepped back with his newly assigned mentor, it was time for Bramblestar to name the last apprentice.

"Mosskit," the dark brown tabby smiled, amber eyes landing on the said kit, "from this moment you shall be known as Mosspaw."

The tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat's eyes stretched wide as the clan leader spoke, tail twitching with excitement. Bramblestar's dark amber gaze began to rake through the crowd of gathered cats for her chosen mentor. Smirking to himself, his eyes fell still on a cat just to Seedflight's left.

"Bumblestripe."

The pale grey tom froze with shock, eyes stretching wider than Seedflight had ever imagined possible without falling out. Dovewing nuzzled him affectionately, muttering a few words of congratulations to her mate.

Bumblestripe seemed just as surprised as Seedflight had been, _No,_ just as surprised as Seedflight _was._ He slowly rose to his paws and walked unsurely forward, a path through the sea of cats slowly forming.

"Bumblestripe," Bramblestar continued with a grin, "You are a fine warrior, deserving of an apprentice despite your young age. I'm sure you will be a _wonderful_ mentor to young Mosspaw here."  
The striped warrior crouched down to touch noses with his new apprentice, amber eyes shining with pride at being chosen as a mentor. Mosspaw smiled shyly, amber eyes shining with admiration for her mentor.

Seedflight couldn't help but smile. Little Mosskit, at last, an apprentice. Mosspaw was the runt of the litter, the smallest and the only of the five kits with long fur. The tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat was the shyest of the litter, preferring to keep to herself and her little trio of herself, Stormpaw and Redkit, though she had true fighting spirit and could be very stubborn. Bumblestripe was a fine choice in a mentor for Mosspaw.

Bramblestar beamed widely down upon his clan, "Five new apprentices for ThunderClan," he meowed, pride edging his words, "We will remain strong, whatever leaf-bare throws at us."

_Amberpaw_

It was hard to believe that these very fields, that the three littermates were walking, had once been clan territory. Separated by thick hedgerows and dotted with sheep (much to Snowpaw's dismay), there was no trace that these very grasses had once been home to the clans, not a single trace.

Although, the pale grey-and-white she-cat found if she took a deep, deep breath she could taste the very faint, but easily distinguishable, scent of ThunderClan. The fear scent of ThunderClan cats.

Great warriors had been born, raised and had died on the ground that Amberpaw and her littermates were walking, bad warriors too, evil warriors. The patched she-cat half expected Tigerstar to leap out from the nearby hedgerow, but of course, nothing of that description occurred. Their only companions, other than themselves of course, were the sheep, who were grazing peacefully, occasionally letting out a bleat or two and almost frightening the life out of Snowpaw.

"What's that?" Snowpaw meowed suddenly, his amber gaze firmly fixed on the trail ahead. He stopped walking, inclining his head and squinting in an attempt to make out what whatever he had spotted.

Amberpaw frowned, but nudged him heartily, "I say we go find out," she suggested, amber eyes sparkling with amusement, "We certainly won't be able to see from here."

Snowpaw nodded and jolted into motion again, falling in beside Amberpaw. In all honesty, Amberpaw couldn't see what her brother was actually talking about. She couldn't see anything up ahead, though, then again, Snowpaw had really keen eyesight.

It was only when they were a little nearer that the pale grey-and-white apprentice could actually see what Snowpaw had pointed out and at first, she had to admit, she wasn't all that impressed. As far as Amberpaw could see, it was just some twisted old roots and the remains of a great big rock.

Dewpaw and Snowpaw, however, were quickly scavenging around the roots, ears pricked and eyes wide with excitement. Amberpaw rolled her eyes, "What are you so interested in? They're just a bunch of roots and a chunk of rock, It's not like we've found Fourtrees"-

The patched apprentice broke off, eyes lighting up with realisation, "Oh my StarClan! We've found Fourtrees!" she exclaimed, dancing about from one paw to the other.

Dewpaw and Snowpaw both gave her an _"I told you so"_ look. Snowpaw in particular looked rather amused, "StarClan, Amberpaw! You can be a bit mouse-brained sometimes, I don't know how on earth you managed to become leader of SkyClan!"

Amberpaw chuckled, amber gaze trailing to the remains of the old gathering place. She could just imagine the four great oaks, standing tall, silhouetted against the full moon. The four leaders, proudly standing on the Great Rock, announcing the news of new warriors and the passing of old ones.

She sighed, if only the old forest hadn't been destroyed. As much as she loved the lake, it wasn't where their ancestors had lived. The clans had been formed in the old forest, not the lake. So many cats had died when the twolegs had destroyed the old forest, and only to turn it into homes for their sheep!

"Amberpaw!"

Snowpaw and Dewpaw's combined mew tore the pretty patched she-cat from her thoughts. She shook her head, trying to banish her thoughts, "Sorry, I kind of drifted off."

Dewpaw smiled, "Don't worry about it," he glanced up at the sky warily, "Though we need to get going again, no time for dwelling on the past. We've got a clan to save."

Amberpaw smiled, amber eyes dancing with amusement, "Let's go."

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**Well, what did you guys think? Reviews are love, remember, and love makes the world go round... So review or DIE! xD I'm kidding... I'm not... No seriously, I'm joking. xPPP**

**Anyway, live, love, read and review (and maybe even pay me and my blue llama Larry a visit?)**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Edging Closer

**Sorry, I know it's quite short but I can promise the next chapter will be better! Just been to a horse show today, first show ever and had a great clear round, so I'm on a high right now. Should try and get the next chapter up quicker. ^^**

**I do not own Warriors, if I did, things would be pretty different.**

**Right, review replies! :3**

**Orange - I almost did bring Seedflight along, but then I decided against it. :)**

**Numbuh 227 - Thank you! Weather clans, sounds interesting! I myself am part of a Warriors RP and one of the clans is called RainClan. ^^**

**Doveflight - It's great to see new people reviewing, glad to hear you're enjoying my stories. :3 Oh, And it's Goldenstorm, but I quite like the name Goldenlion. :D**

**Moonlight Demise - :) He he, introducing a new point of view in this chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it!**

**Well, live, love, read and review! Enjoy!**

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_Snowpaw_

"Snowpaw."

The white tom slowly blinked open tired amber eyes, only to blink them in confusion as soon as they settled on the cat in front of him. _Seedflight._

The sight of the pale ginger she-cat got the butterflies fluttering about in Snowpaw's chest. The snowy-furred tom grinned, amber eyes flooding with happiness. _Seedflight, Seedflight!_ Speechless, the white apprentice was left staring at the pretty warrior, jaws hanging open.

Seedflight smiled, touching her tail tip to his shoulder, "I've missed you," she admitted, green eyes that were usually so vibrant, clouding over, "Why did you leave ThunderClan? Why did you leave us?"

The white-furred tom was lost for words. It felt like moons since he'd last seen the pale ginger warrior and he'd almost forgotten how… how pretty she was.

Blinking away his thoughts, Snowpaw at last managed to speak, "I didn't have a choice," he confessed, staring down at his paws in shame, ears drooping, "It's this prophecy, you see," he turned away, "It-It's complicated."

The pale ginger she-cat began to bristle, "It's complicated enough that you can't tell me?" she snapped, dark green eyes suddenly filling with anger, "Some friend, huh? First you leave your clan, then you won't even tell me why!"

Snowpaw shrunk backwards, _StarClan, what has gotten into Seedflight?_ All of a sudden, the white tom felt very, very small and insignificant, Seedflight towering over him, lips drawn back in a snarl and pelt bristling like mad.

"You're so selfish, Snowpaw!" Seedflight snarled, green eyes blazing. She sheathed her claws, slowly walking closer to the quivering white apprentice. She had a mad look in her eyes as she flexed her claws in anticipation, glaring down at Snowpaw.

"I'm sorry," the white tom mumbled feebly, slinking away from the pale ginger warrior, "I'm s-sorry," it was then that Snowpaw realised why he'd been feeling so small; Seedflight was getting bigger. His amber eyes stretched wide, gaze trailing to her eyes, which now glowed a shade or crimson red.

This wasn't Seedflight, this wasn't Seedflight at all.

_"It's complicated enough you can't tell me? ... Some friend, huh? … You're so selfish Snowpaw!"_

Snowpaw jolted awake, heart pounding against his chest and amber eyes wide with fear to find Amberpaw crouched over him, eyes clouded with concern. The snowy-furred apprentice swallowed, _It was just a dream, Snowpaw, it was just a dream._

"Are you ok, Snowpaw?" Amberpaw asked, tilting her head to study her brother, "You were fidgeting in your sleep and mumbling 'sorry' or something."

Snowpaw's eyes flashed with pain as his mind recalled Seedflight's words once more, _"You're so selfish Snowpaw!"_

The snow-furred apprentice shook his head, slowly flooding back to the present, "It was nothing," he meowed, "Just a dream, that's all, a bad dream."

Amberpaw's amber gaze washed over him for a moment before finally the grey-and-white patched she-cat eased, "Okay then, if you say so," with a flick of her tail, Amberpaw slipped out of the bramble thicket, leaving Snowpaw to himself.

The white tom heaved a sigh of relief, glad to have some time on his own, even if it was just a few minutes. Ever since the start of their journey, Snowpaw had been spending every night and day in the company of his littermates, so the tom felt the need just to have little time to himself.

With the dream weighing heavy in his mind, the white tom sunk a little deeper into the sandy soil. They hadn't bothered collect bedding the previous night as the ground was soft enough to just sleep on. Snowpaw was sure that Dewpaw would come marching in any moment, declaring it was time they pressed on, but oddly he didn't.

Apart from the hushed murmurs of Dewpaw and Amberpaw coming from outside of the bramble thicket, all was silent. Snowpaw sighed softly, resting his head on his paws and gazing out of the den at the world outside.

Today was one of the coldest days of Leaf-bare so far, frost laying thick upon the grass and the sun hidden behind the clouds of dark grey. He predicted there would be snow any day now, the air certainly weighing heavy with moisture, all it needed now was to get a few degrees colder and then it would freeze.

After a few more moments of deep contemplation, the snowy-furred apprentice decided it was time to get up and moving. With the cold wind that crept in through the holes in the den wall ruffling his pelt, Snowpaw shivered and got to his paws, amber gaze wandering about for a moment.

Emerging into the clouded light, he flashed Dewpaw a half-hearted smile, "Well, should we get going then?"

The dark-furred tom glanced sideways at Amberpaw, before pushing forward the limb body of a mouse, "Yes, once you've eaten this."

Snowpaw wrinkled up his nose in mock disgust, looking away, "I'm not hungry," he meowed after hesitation, feeling his littermates' gazes burning his pelt, "Now, should we get moving or what?"

Amberpaw shook her head, shoving the skinny mouse right under his nose, "Uh uh, we're not going anywhere until you eat this," the patched she-cat insisted, voice thick with determination and concern, "You didn't eat yesterday evening, you need to keep your strength up."

Snowpaw swallowed. He'd hoped Amberpaw wouldn't bring this up. With the bitterly cold weather and the difficulty to find prey, the icy-pelted tom had decided he would limit his meals to once a day. With his thick covering of lush, snowy white fur, he didn't need as much prey to keep himself warm.

On the other paw, Amberpaw and Dewpaw both had short fur. His sister was a skinny thing anyway, well, slender at least, so she certainly needed as much prey as she could get. Dewpaw? He was the leader of the group, if he wasn't strong, none of them would be.

"No, no," Snowpaw turned up his nose, "I don't need it. You need it more than I do."

Dewpaw scowled, "I told you he'd be like this," he muttered sideways to Amberpaw before returning his attention to his brother, "Look, you _have_ to eat. All this 'one meal a day' nonsense," he scoffed, rolling his eyes, "We _all_ need to be strong; that means you too."

Snowpaw opened his jaws to protest, but spotting Dewpaw's harsh amber glare, he thought better of it. Sighing in defeat, the white tom began to slowly gulp down the mouse, ignoring Amberpaw and Dewpaw's watching amber eyes.

Once finished, the tom hurriedly buried the bones and turned to his littermates, "Happy now?" he asked, his mood a little dampened by the whole event.

Dewpaw smiled smugly, dark amber gaze dancing with triumph, "Yup, how about you?" he asked, turning to Amberpaw.

The patched grey and white apprentice smiled, "I think so. And now maybe you'll tell me about your dream?"

Snowpaw stiffened, thoughts returning to the dream, well, nightmare. Although the white tom knew it hadn't really been Seedflight, he couldn't help but wonder if the real ThunderClan she-cat's reaction would be the same when they eventually returned to ThunderClan. _If _they returned that was.

Snowpaw swallowed nervously, "I'll tell you about it, _later_," He told his sister, not meeting the grey-and-white apprentice's pleading stare, "Now, let's get moving!"

Dewpaw let his dark amber eyes roam over his brother for a moment, before mewing uncertainly, "Well, we _could_ get going if we knew which way to go."

Snowpaw frowned, but it seemed that Amberpaw had suddenly come alive, "No, no!" she meowed excitedly, amber eyes glowing, "I know the way to go. Goldenstorm told me!"

Both Dewpaw and Snowpaw gave her a blank stare. The white tom knew his sister could be 'away with StarClan' to say the least, but making up some imaginary cat? That was a little extreme.

Amberpaw rolled her eyes, "You two are so forgetful. Goldenstorm is an ancient SkyClan warrior, he's the one who told me I was the reincarnation of Amberstar. He was my, I mean, _Amberstar's_ mate."

Snowpaw breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew, I was worried you'd started making up imaginary friends there, we're not _that_ bad a company, are we?"

Amberpaw shoved him playfully, amber eyes glittering with amusement, "Me making up imaginary friends, I would never do that, would I Stumpyeyes?" she turned to the empty space between herself and Snowpaw as if there was a cat sitting right beside them.

Dewpaw rolled his eyes, "Of all names, Stumpyeyes, really? So, which way do we have to go to find SkyClan?"

Grinning, Amberpaw let her amber orbs flit from the imaginary 'Stumpyeyes' to her brother, "He said to follow the river," she nodded in the direction of the rushing river they had passed the previous night, "And we'd eventually find SkyClan."

Dewpaw gave a nod, "Right, I suggest we get going then?"

"Finally! C'mon, let's go!" Snowpaw meowed playfully, his mood thoroughly lightened and amber eyes dancing with amusement as he bounded ahead, motioning with a flick of his tail for Amberpaw and Dewpaw to follow.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" and with that the two siblings raced after their brother, for once pushing aside the dark cloud of a prophecy that hung over their heads. Although forgotten for those moments, the prophecy of sky still lingered, waiting for the right moment to strike and the three littermates were going to need to be ready.

_Lilystream_

-"and Molespots, why don't you go hunting with… Let me see, what about Lilystream?" Lionblaze's mew bounced off the walls of the hollow that formed ThunderClan's camp and straight into the ears of a delighted Lilystream. The dark brown-and-white tabby immediately squealed with excitement, heart doing a loop-de-loop as her amber eyes raced over to the named tom. _Molespots. Finally we get to spend a bit more time together, and about time too!_

The brown-and-cream tom had begun to make his way towards the young warrior, amber eyes warm with happiness at being assigned to hunt with his friends. Ever since being made warriors, the two, once inseparable, young cats had been torn apart.

Although there were quite a few moons between them, Lilystream and Molespots had remained great friends, and now, at last, they got the chance to spend some quality time together, hunting.

Okay, so it wasn't the best day for hunting, considering the fact that it was the middle of Leaf-bare and the stormy clouds above threatened to open up and send down the lake's worth of water in rain. But Lilystream was still smiling, she was good at that. 'Just keep smiling and everything will be alright,' that's what Sorreltail had always told her.

"Well, it seems we're to be hunting together," Molespots smirked, pressing against the patched she-cat affectionately, "I'm not too shabby a company for you I would like to think," he joked.

Lilystream laughed as they began to walk, heading for the thorn barrier, "Of course not!" she grinned, meeting his amber gaze, "Although you're a mouse-brain."

As soon as they ducked under the rather bare thorn barrier and slipped into the rather desolate forest, Molespots gave the young warrior a playful shove, "Hey, I'm not _that_ bad! What did I ever do to you?"

The patched brown tabby warrior's eyes lit up with amusement as she began to reel off the list, "You put fire ants in my nest when I was a kit, you almost made me fall into the hollow when I was an apprentice, Oh yeah, and you just shoved me."

Molespots laughed as they pressed onwards, "Okay, maybe I'm just a little bit of a mouse-brain, but"-

Lilystream silenced him with a flick of her tabby-and-white patched tail, indicating to a spreading oak on the path ahead. The brown-and-cream tom frowned for a moment, squinting to try and see what she had spotted.

"It's a _mouse_, you _mouse_-brain," she hissed playfully under her breath, "C'mon, let's catch it."

Molespots' eyes narrowed to slits, "You're on."

The two broke apart, Lilystream heading upwind of the tiny brown creature whilst her brown-and-cream companion slunk through the shadows to the right of the mouse.

The young dark brown-and-white tabby motioned with a flick of her tail the countdown until attack, _three, two, one._

The two hunting partners pounced, Lilystream leaping and taking down the tiny mouse whilst Molespots stood ready, in case the creature escaped. The young she-cat killed the prey with a swift bite to the neck and instantly it fell limp in her jaws.

"We make a great team," Molespots grinned, nodding to their prey and amber eyes glimmering with triumph.

"We do," Lilystream confirmed, nodding her head as she began to bury their catch, "But that was easy prey. I say we try and take down a squirrel now?"

The brown-and-cream warrior smirked, repeating his earlier words, "You're on."

_Amberpaw_

The three littermates had been travelling for almost half the day now and had just reached the edge of Twolegplace. Unfortunately, the river cut through the outskirts of the 'town' as Soot had called it, which meant, unfortunately, that they had to come into contact with the dreaded 'twolegs', who had destroyed both SkyClan's first home _and_ the old forest.

"So?"

Snowpaw stared at Amberpaw blankly, "So what?" he asked, avoiding her amber gaze directly and focusing his restless eyes on the path ahead, a well-worn track that ran alongside the gushing river.

The grey-and-white she-cat rolled her eyes, frustration niggling at her, "You know what I mean. The dream. You said you'd tell me about it," she read his expression for emotions, which was rather difficult when he was deliberately trying to avoid her gaze.

Snowpaw didn't even look at her this time, amber orbs centred on his paws as they walked, "I said _later_," he pointed out, voice hinting of no emotions, "I'm not ready yet."

"C'mon," Amberpaw meowed impatiently, but also with deep concern, "I know there's something up with you. You were crying out in your sleep and you say you had a bad dream. You can tell me, you can trust me, I'm your sister for StarClan's sake."

Snowpaw seemed to finally give in, sighing heavily, "Fine, I'll tell you," his eyes locked with Amberpaw's concerned amber ones, "But you must promise not to laugh or tease me or anything?"

The grey-and-white apprentice hesitated, but nodded after a while, wondering what the white tom was getting at. She hoped, for all of their sakes, it wasn't another prophecy. They'd had enough trouble with this one, another one and Amberpaw was sure she would break.

"Well," Snowpaw began unsurely and he gushed out the details of the dream, or nightmare more like. Amberpaw nodded to show she understood throughout and by the end of his description, she was feeling pretty sorry for her brother. She knew it was just a dream, but right now all three of them needed support, not crazy dreams.

Although, the grey-and-white she-cat couldn't help but smirk silently to herself. _So my suspicions were correct, he does like Seedflight. _It was then that Amberpaw realised she'd been totally silent and Snowpaw was awaiting her response still.

"Oh, right!" she burst out, feeling a little embarrassed, "It was just a dream, remember that, just a dream," she nudged him sympathetically, "Seedflight would never do anything like that, _you_ know she wouldn't and _I _know she wouldn't. There's no way she could do the weird growing bigger and red eyes bit either."

Snowpaw smiled half-heartedly, "I know, it just shook me, y'know?"

Amberpaw nodded. It was then that her mind was cast to when they eventually made their return to ThunderClan, how much would've changed, would they all still remember her? She would have so much gossip to catch up on when she got back, any new mates or new litters, she _needed_ to know about.

The grey-and-white she-cat personally had her suspicions that Ivypool and Toadstep would become mates soon, or Mousewhisker and Orangeflight. It was no secret amongst the clan that each pair liked the other, so each of them were bound to end up together.

"Look," Amberpaw meowed, returning to the presents and casting her other thoughts aside, "Just don't worry about the dream. It's not real, remember that?"

Snowpaw nodded weakly, amber eyes flashing with uncertainty. His jaws parted to respond, but Dewpaw cut him off before the words left his mouth.

"Come on you two, we need to be on our paws, we're in twoleg territory now, remember that?" the dark-furred apprentice reminded them gently from his position up front, glancing over his shoulder as he did so.

Amberpaw nodded. Dewpaw was right, they needed to be ready for anything. Just because they had made it this far didn't mean they could relax, in fact they needed to be the opposite, prepared at all times.

There could be dogs, hostile kittypets, rogues or loners and of course, just twolegs. They needed to be ready, because just one second slower in reaction time to whatever Twolegplace threw at them could mean the difference between fulfilling the prophecy or failing it altogether.

* * *

**Well, what did you guys think, what about the Lilystream point of view?**

**Next time: We meet a new character and our three little friends finally meet Leafstar!**

**Remember, reviews are love, my dear readers.**

**Well, I'll see ya next time,**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**


	15. Chapter Fourteen: At Last

**I'll admit, I'm not all too proud of this chapter. I got a little bit of Writer's Block, but luckily that's gone now. ^^ Just to let you guys know, I'm probably going to make a trailer for the whole series. I'm just going to draw in some of the scenes, record some quotes and chuck in some dramatic music for effect. xD It'll probably take a while, but I'll put up the link once it's done. Oh, and if you'd like to help with it, by drawing one of the scenes from the books so far, then just PM me, I'd love a little help. :)**

**Well, I kinda lied about them meeting Leafstar, though they do reach SkyClan. We'll be meeting Leafstar in the next chappie, I can _promise _we will this time. xD Anyway, onwards and upwards!**

**I do not own warriors, Erin Hunter does!**

**Interesting fact - There will be six books in the Blue Moon series and I can at last reveal the title of the next book... Eye of the Storm! Also, there will be about 17 or 18 chapters in this story. ^^**

**Anyway, review reply time!**

**Orange - Thank you! I always look forward to your review because they're so encouraging and it really helps me to write more. :D**

**Wyldclaw - I sure am glad I don't have dreams like that and go Amberpaw! :3**

**Moonlight Demise - Aww, thank you! **

**Numbuh 227 - He he, Amberpaw's going to be a little upset when she gets back. And I read the prologue of your story, I loved it! Can't wait for the first chapter! :D**

**Silverlighning97 - Thank you, good to hear you still like my story and it hasn't got boring yet. xD**

**Doveflight - Maybe it is... Maybe it isn't... xD Yeah, it is the town Stick and co. live in, but they won't be meeting them, unless I suddenly decide I want them to.**

**Thank you all my lovely reviewers! Remember, live, love, read and review! :3**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Dewpaw_

The dark grey tom awoke to dawn light spilling into his weary amber eyes and a cold wind tugging at his thick grey fur. The dark-furred apprentice forced open his eyes and slowly stretched out in the morning light, whole body stiff with cold.

The three littermates had been unable to find a good den for the night, so had to spend the night under the stars, which neither of them had been too happy about. Dewpaw's spine arched as he gave a yawn before the dark-pelted tom got to his paws and wearily wandered over to the sleeping Snowpaw and Amberpaw, prodding each one in turn.

"Seriously, this early? You could have let me sleep a minute longer," was what slipped Snowpaw's jaws as soon as the white tom had awoken. Amberpaw, luckily, was a little happier to be woken up at such a time, clambering to her paws without a single complaint.

Dewpaw flashed Snowpaw a sympathetic smile, knowing the white-furred tom had slept on-and-off last night, "Sorry," he apologised, ducking his head, "But"-

Cutting his brother off, Snowpaw meowed, "Yeah, yeah. We need to get going, I know, no need to remind me again."

The dark-furred tom grinned, "I wasn't going to say that actually," he meowed, a triumphant smile plastered across his face.

Snowpaw's face fell, "Oh. What were you going to say then?"

"I was going to say that…" he frowned, "I can't even remember what I was going to say."

The white-furred tom smirked, "That was clever of you," he meowed sarcastically, amber eyes dancing with amusement, "It can't have been very important though, if you can't remember it I mean," he fixed his brother with a questioning stare.

Dewpaw shook his head, "No, it wasn't important, at least I don't think it was important…" he trailed off, dark amber gaze growing distant.

"Earth to Dewpaw! Do you read me?"

Amberpaw's mew jerked the dark-furred tom straight back to reality. He blinked for a few moments, before replying with a smirk, "I read you," his dark amber eyes danced with amusement as they met Amberpaw's bright amber ones.

The patched she-cat grinned, "I say we get going then?" she suggested amber gaze drifting slowly from Dewpaw to Snowpaw, who sat beside her.

Both toms gave a nod of approval and Amberpaw smirked, "Hunting first?"

Dewpaw smiled, "Sure," his gaze travelled to Snowpaw, "But we can't be too long, we're so close now, to reaching SkyClan I mean," his amber orbs shifted their attention from his brother to Amberpaw, "We don't know what state they're in. If we're too late…" he broke off, eyes clouding, "Our paws will forever be stained by the blood of SkyClan. We must fulfil this prophecy, or StarClan knows what could happen."

Taken by surprise as Dewpaw's sudden rush of determination to complete their quest, Amberpaw and Snowpaw just nodded slowly.

Dewpaw gave a sigh, shaking away the dark thoughts, "Come on then, let's get hunting," he forced a smile.

As the three apprentices skulked towards the thinning undergrowth of the copse, hearts set on a successful hunt to start off the day, Dewpaw couldn't help the feeling of doubt niggling in his belly. _What if we're too late already? What happens then?_

The dark grey tom tried to dust of these dark thoughts, but it was impossible. Dewpaw wouldn't be able to live with himself if he failed this prophecy, if they all failed it. They had to fulfil it, they just _had_ to.

After a moderately successful hunt, the three apprentices hit the trail again. The river was cutting deeper and deeper into Twolegplace and slowly, the patches of trees and forest were getting smaller. Hunting would be more difficult now, especially considering the fact that Leaf-bare was in full swing.

Dewpaw wasn't quite sure when they'd set off, but it was almost Sunhigh now. Glancing over at the other bank of the river, the dark-pelted tom could see the ever-growing vast number of twoleg nests, hidden behind thick, neatly manicured hedgerows and tall barriers of wood. '_Fences' did Soot called them?_

The dark-furred ThunderClan apprentice had to admit, twolegs intrigued him. He still hated them of course, he was just a little curious about them. Why did they live in those weird nests of red stone, why not under the stars or in nice warm dens of brambles like warriors did? _Not that I'd actually want them to live out here with us, that would be awful. They'd scare away all the prey!_

He studied the tall structures of red-stone for a moment, before dragging his dark amber orbs to the path ahead. Dewpaw guessed that the river had flooded recently as the ground under-paw was waterlogged and slippery, giving out a squelch whenever any of the three cats took a step.

"Dewpaw, what is that twoleg doing?"

The dark-furred tom froze at hearing Amberpaw's anxious mew. Slowly, his whole body stiff with tension, he turned to where the patched apprentice had indicated.

There, on the other side of the rushing river, sat a tall, male twoleg. He was perched on a strange sort of tree stump, a long stick in hand that had a long line of string tied on the end that fell into the water. On its head was a strange sort of floppy material, which seemed to be protecting his vulnerable pinkish face from the elements.

"Just act natural," he hissed under his breath, "Maybe he won't notice us?"

Snowpaw and Amberpaw nodded, although both seemed a little confused at what 'acting natural' involved. Dewpaw just kept walking, stepping lightly as not to disrupt the waterlogged ground. Keeping his centre of gravity low, he didn't dare look at the twoleg again, his amber orbs fixed ahead.

Snowpaw, however, seemed to get the other end of the stick. The white tom was scrambling up the trunk of a small beech tree and upon reaching the lowest branch, he began to skulk along it. As the branch grew thinner and thinner, the snowy-white apprentice's amber orbs flickered ahead to the next tree, a small oak.

Dewpaw gritted his teeth in frustration, _Not like that Snowpaw, you mouse-brain!_

It was when he reached the end of the beech branch that Snowpaw finally stopped. He bunched his muscles, taking a few steps backwards before racing forward and leaping through the air.

For a moment the dark grey apprentice thought his brother would make it, but it soon became apparent that he had under-jumped. He was _falling, falling_ towards a huge muddy puddle.

Dewpaw winced, not daring to look as he heard the _splat_ of his brother falling into the mud. When he opened his eyes, what he saw was nothing like his brother. In fact, Snowpaw looked more like a brown monster of a cat than the snowy-white coloured tom he had been this morning.

Dripping with mud, the ThunderClan apprentice emerged from the puddle, a grim expression set upon his face. Dewpaw had almost completely forgotten about the twoleg, when suddenly Amberpaw nudged him, "T-twoleg!" she stammered.

Before the dark grey apprentice had the chance to even glance over at the twoleg, he heard a strange sound coming from the tall, two-legged creature. Dewpaw wasn't sure what sort of noise it was, or what it even meant but glancing over at the twoleg, he knew exactly what they had to do.

The pinkish creature was trudging through the water, towards the three littermates, an unreadable expression set upon his pinkish face. Turning to his littermates, Dewpaw uttered one word, "Run!"

And on his command, all three cats began to run. In his state, Snowpaw was a lot slower than usual, the thick mud that clung to his long-white fur really weighing him down.

Dewpaw, being of quite a stocky build, wasn't a fast runner usually. But this prophecy had changed so many things, so today, Dewpaw was running faster than he ever had in his life. Amberpaw, however, was the front-runner, being slender with quite long legs, so running at a speed came naturally to her.

Snowpaw was lagging behind. Although Dewpaw knew it must be quite difficult running, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of impatience for his brother niggling at his belly. _Think, what would make Snowpaw run faster?_

After a few moments of thought, the dark-furred tom suddenly had a brainwave. Snowpaw could be a really fast runner, but only when he had something to run to, or some_one_ perhaps?

Slowing his pace so that he fell in beside his brother, Dewpaw mewed hurriedly to him, "Snowpaw, run! Run for Seedflight, you've gotta be faster!"

He glanced over his shoulder. The twoleg had emerged from the river and was lumbering after them, a long stick with a webbed string on the end in hand. Dewpaw stiffened, wondering what on earth the twoleg could want them for.

At the mention of Seedflight, Snowpaw's eyes flashed with anxiety for a moment, and the dark-furred tom wondered whether it was because of his dream. But then, as if a switch had been flicked, the white tom's amber eyes suddenly shone with determination and he began to surge forwards, quickly overtaking Dewpaw.

Jaw dropping, Dewpaw was quite stunned at how his words had such a big impact on the muddy-pelted tom. Racing after him, the dark grey tom could feel his legs tiring and his mouth began to hang open so he could take in more air.

"Run, Dewpaw!" Amberpaw screeched, voice thick with worry. Paws skidding against the water-logged ground, Dewpaw dared glance over his shoulder, only to see a web of string being thrown over him. With it tightening around his neck, the dark-furred apprentice's yowl died in his throat.

"DEWPAW!"

The twoleg towered over him, a smug grin on his face. Dewpaw could feel the life being torn from his body as the web started to choke him. He could picture it already, _his dead body, limp and lifeless. A twoleg standing over him, cackling with triumph. Amberpaw and Snowpaw, watching from the shadows, unable to continue their quest with the loss of their brother. Them returning to ThunderClan without him, telling the clan they failed the prophecy. SkyClan cats, all dead. Every single one of them, dead._

No, that just _couldn't_ happen. Feeling a rush of determination ripple through him, Dewpaw began to fight with the little strength he had left. Surprised, the twoleg let out a yelp as the dark grey tom tore in half the webbed string that had been caught around his neck.

Gulping in the air, Dewpaw managed to claw his way out of the thick webbing. The twoleg stumbled backwards, unable to believe his eyes. Dewpaw, bristling fury at the furless being's doings, lashed out at the twoleg's leg, claws unsheathed, before racing back to join his littermates.

Snowpaw and Amberpaw were speechless, so Dewpaw did the talking, "Keep running," he muttered breathlessly, "If we head deeper into the trees, we should be able to lose the twoleg."

Both gave a nod and before running off again, Amberpaw gave her brother a quick lick on the cheek, "I thought I'd lost you," were her only words.

Dewpaw didn't reply, setting off into the fastest run he could muster, his energy levels now running on low from his brief capture. The twoleg behind them was in shock at what had just happened and was simply standing there, staring as the three apprentices disappeared into the shadow of the trees.

Dewpaw didn't think it would start chasing after them anytime soon, but he kept sprinting, desperate to get as far away as possible from the great lumbering being.

It was only when they were deep into the cover of the trees and they were sure that the twoleg wasn't following, that the three felines finally drew to a halt. Dewpaw immediately collapsed, all his last strength having been zapped from him in that last run.

Amberpaw's eyes stretched wide with fear and she quickly crouched behind him, "Dewpaw, are you ok?"

Dewpaw smiled weakly up at her, "Just exhausted, that's all," he reassured her, curling up into a ball, "Do you mind if we stop for a rest, just for a bit?"

Amberpaw gave a nod of understanding, beckoning for a very muddy Snowpaw to join them, "Me and Snowpaw will go hunting if you don't mind, we'll see if we can catch you some prey. I think you've earned it, after that escape," she glanced upwards at the trees around them, "Although I don't think we'll find much prey in these forests, I can't scent any. Mind you, it reminds me a bit of ThunderClan territory."

Snowpaw gave a nod, though he looked a little annoyed at having to go hunting straight after their mad dash and whilst he was still coated in mud. Amberpaw quickly spotted this, however, and gave him a look, "It'll help you camouflage," she pointed out. Snowpaw sighed, realising she had a fair point.

Dewpaw sat up a little, watching as his littermates left. He still felt a little breathless, although deep down inside of him, there was a sense of pride. _I beat a twoleg._

The three apprentices made the decision to stay in the clearing for the night. It reminded all three of them of ThunderClan territory, so when the morning sun eventually rose from the shadows of the night, neither of them wanted to leave. Although prey was few and far between in this forest, Dewpaw liked it, and he knew that in Green-leaf, it would certainly be rich with prey.

They made an early start, Dewpaw, insisting they needed to as, in their mad sprint away from the twoleg, they had left the river behind. That meant that they'd have to spend a fair bit of time looking for the river before they could actually get going in the right direction.

The problem was, that neither of the three young cats could remember which way they had come from. They knew where they were heading, towards where the sun rises, but the river was completely lost to them.

Hidden behind a thick veil of clouds, the sun was almost impossible to see. Occasionally one of them would spot a glimpse of it, peeking out from behind the murky grey, but before you could say 'mouse', it was gone again.

Dewpaw was keeping to himself a little, setting a brisk pace at the front of the pack. It was yet another miserable day, it seemed to be getting colder each day and a blanket of frost still lay on the cold, hard ground. Snowpaw had predicted snow and for once, Dewpaw thought he could be right.

"Let's hope we reach SkyClan before the snow reaches us, we'll be in real trouble if we don't," he muttered to himself thoughtfully.

The forest was getting thicker and thicker and Dewpaw had now lost hope of finding the river. His goal was now to find another cat and ask them if they knew where the gorge was, but they hadn't met any other cats for a while now, apart from a lonely white kittypet this morning who'd strayed into the woods.

Dewpaw was in a bit of a bad mood this morning, partly due to the cold, but mainly because his dawn hunting had been very unsuccessful, he'd had to share a mouse that Amberpaw had caught. Snowpaw had somehow managed to catch a pigeon, Dewpaw had no idea how, especially in a forest like this.

Flicking some water droplets from his ivory-white whiskers, the dark grey apprentice was about to start a conversation with Snowpaw when he heard something.

Dewpaw's ears snapped forwards, dark amber eyes narrowing to slits. Amberpaw and Snowpaw also seemed to have heard the sound and all three immediately jolted into alert mode.

_Snap!_ A twig snapped nearby and the dark-pelted apprentice immediately stiffened. It seemed they were in the presence of another creature. He lifted his nose to the sky and took a deep breath, _smells like-_

"Hi!"

All three apprentices almost jumped out of their pelts. Having just leapt out from a nearby oak tree, a young tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat sat before them, green eyes bright and head inclined to study the three cats. She would probably have been pretty, had it not been for her ribs that poked out from underneath her pelt and her dull, not at all glossy, pelt. She looked starving, to say the least, yet she wasn't at all hostile, friendly even.

Dewpaw snorted, "Look, can you get out of our way? We're on an important quest," he glanced sideways at his littermates, "It's a matter of life or death, and we _need _to get going."

He tried to brush past the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, but she wouldn't budge. Instead, she looked the three felines up and down once more before her bright green orbs stretched wide in a mixture of awe and excitement.

"Y-y-you, Y-you're," she stammered, almost bouncing up and down with excitement, "You're the cats of the prophecy of sky! Dewpaw, Amberpaw and Snowpaw!" she nodded to each cat in turn, by now starting to shake with excitement.

All three apprentices stiffened. Dewpaw, particularly, was a little disturbed at how this crazy cat knew who they were, "How do you know our names?" he demanded, dark amber eyes blazing, "You haven't been following us, have you?"

The she-cat laughed as if it was the most ridiculous suggestion ever, "Of course not! Leafstar told us all about you three, at least what Firestar told _her_," she studied them for a moment, eyes bright with hope, "I'm Redpaw!"

Dewpaw couldn't help but bristle at how she managed to stay so positive. This was a serious quest and- _Wait, Leafstar?_

"You're SkyClan!" Snowpaw burst out, honey-amber eyes brightening with hope.

The tortoiseshell-and-white apprentice gave a nod, "Of course, rat-brain! Come on! We've been waiting for you, I'll take you back to camp! I'm supposed to be hunting with my mentor, she's called Honeysplash, but I guess that can wait," she paused to think for a moment, "Hang on, you wait here. I'll go and get her!"

With a flick of her tail, the young feline bounded off, leaving all three apprentices alone with their thoughts. Dewpaw couldn't help but find Redpaw annoying, she was so happy-go-lucky, if she knew how much they had been through to get here…

"Well," mewed Dewpaw, breaking the silence as they awaited the return of the bubbly young apprentice, "She sure liked to talk."

His only reply was a distant murmur from Snowpaw, "We found them. We actually found SkyClan."

It was a few moments later when Amberpaw finally replied, "She seems nice," she commented, "I think I may have found a new friend."

Dewpaw rolled his eyes, "She was a pain in the tail! So happy-go-lucky and blabbing on all the time."

Amberpaw smirked, "You've only just met her," the patched grey-and-white apprentice pointed out. There was an odd knowing-look in her amber gaze as she watched him for a moment.

"Oh come on! She was so annoyi"-

He broke off at the sight of Redpaw bounding back towards them, this time a light golden she-cat at her side. Skidding to a halt in front of them, the older of the two, 'Honeysplash', Dewpaw presumed, watched the three apprentices for a moment, before finally speaking, "I think you're right, Redpaw," she smiled, turning to her apprentice, "They've come, they've finally come; our saviours."

Redpaw grinned proudly, sitting up tall and puffing out her chest. The pale golden she-cat let her bright green gaze return to the three littermates, "Well, I guess we should take you back to our camp," she smiled, running her knowledgeable gaze over them one last time, "I'm Honeysplash, Redpaw's mentor and proud warrior of SkyClan."

As they began to lead the three littermates towards the gorge, Dewpaw couldn't help but notice how skinny both the she-cats were. Their pelts were dull and patchy in places and Honeysplash's bones were clearly evident, as were Redpaw's. But he couldn't help but feel a little sense of achievement, _We found SkyClan, at long last._

But hidden behind his pride, dark thoughts pressed, _They're not in a very good state, Honeysplash and Redpaw at least. What if we really are too late?_

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**Well, what did you think? Did you like Redpaw? She's going to be playing a big part in this series, so I hope you do! And what about Dewpaw almost getting captured? Let me know what you think, good or bad. :3**

**Remember, reviews make the world go around! xP**

**See you next time!**

**Leafy -poofs-**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: SkyClan

**I am soooo sorry for the late update! I was really busy on the weekend, I promise, it won't happen again, well, I'll try to make sure it doesn't. The update day is now Saturday/Sunday, although some weeks it could be a Friday.**

**Anyway, 100 Reviews! Wow! I'm so happy! :3 I love you guys! Hope you like this chapter. It's a bit rushed at points, I got a bit of writer's block. **

**I (unfortunately) do not own Warriors. :'( If I did, my life would be complete. xD Well, maybe not, but I'd be a whole lot happier.**

**Review reply time! :3**

**Numbuh 227 - I almost didn't put that part in, but then I thought it lacked a bit of action, so I just chucked it in. xD Thanks!  
**

**Doveflight - I haven't even really decided what the twoleg was trying to achieve, capturing a cat with a fishing net. I'm just gonna say he thought Dewpaw was a feral cat who had been stealing the food from his bins. xD**

**Orange - Thank you! xD Leafy Leafstar. Leafstar's on her last legs now really, it was really fun describing her though. :) Redpaw's quite similar to Amberpaw, just a little more excitable.**

**Moonlight Demise - xP Glad to hear you're still enjoying it! :D**

**Guest - Thank you so much! **

**Lightningbreeze - Sorry for the long wait! I was starting to get worried you might actually die. xD**

**Silverlark - Thanks so much! 3 **

**Raggedstar - He he, my parents used to be like that. The web string thing is a sort of fishing net, the strings of it got caught around his neck and that's how it was choking him. **

**Silverlightning97 - Thanks! Hope you like it!**

**XxBlazestormxX - Wow, that must've taken a while! xD Thank you so much! 3**

**kittenWhisperer - xDDD**

**Raggedstar 3 - -backs away slowly- You seem to have _cloned. _It's scary... Yeah, Redpaw was sort of named after Red. :)**

**Anyway, live, love, read and review! Enjoy!**

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_Amberpaw_

Honeysplash keeping up the rear and Redpaw eagerly taking the lead, Dewpaw, Snowpaw and Amberpaw were lead towards the SkyClan camp. All that Amberpaw could think of was _What will the camp be like? Will it be a gorge as Goldenstorm said or has it changed now? Will it be like I, I mean, Amberstar, remembered it?_

"You must've been travelling for _moons_ to find us! You're so brave!"

The grey-and-white patched she-cat could hear Redpaw's discussion with Dewpaw up ahead. The bubbly tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat was padding just ahead of the dark-pelted tom, who didn't look at all amused.

"Not quite _moons_," Dewpaw corrected her, clearly trying not to lose his temper with the slightly younger she-cat, "We've been travelling for just under a moon."

_A moon? Had it really been that long since they'd left ThunderClan?_ It felt like they'd been normal apprentices, living in ThunderClan, training like any other apprentice, just yesterday. This prophecy had forced the three young cats to grow up faster than they would normally, to sharpen their skills so that they were at a similar standard of a much older, more-experienced cat. Dewpaw had stayed up through the night to fit in night training in the trees, Snowpaw had spent much of his dreams learning some basic medicine cat information in case any of them fell ill or sustained an injury.

What had Amberpaw done? In all honesty, the grey-and-white she-cat felt like she'd let her two brothers down a little. She'd listened intently to all of her training sessions, yes, but she hadn't really volunteered for anything extra. Briarlight had been teaching her a little in her dreams, but that was mainly just small things like how to find good hunting grounds, how to find a water source and etc.

"Wow, almost a moon away from home! I would miss Whitepaw so much if I had to leave for a moon."

Redpaw's loud mew drew the patched grey apprentice back to reality. Amberpaw blinked for a moment, trying to take everything in, before flashing a smile to Snowpaw and attempting to spark up conversation.

"What do you think it'll be like?" she asked, amber eyes glimmering with curiosity, "The other SkyClan cats I mean. Do you think they'll be friendly?"

Snowpaw looked at her as if she'd just made a joke, smirking to himself, "You heard what Honeysplash said, 'They've finally come; our saviours!'" he meowed, mimicking the voice of the pale golden warrior, "Of course they'll be friendly!"

The grey and white patched she-cat forced a smile, realising she'd been a little mouse-brained, "Of course, they'll definitely be friendly," she told herself. Taking a deep breath, her amber gaze drifted to her brother's bright amber orbs, "I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous. It sort of feels like I'm returning."

Snowpaw smiled sympathetically, touching his tail tip to her shoulder, "I know what you mean. But we have no reason to be scared or nervous, we're the 'sons and daughters of the sky' or whatever the StarClan cats called us," his amber eyes danced with playfulness.

Amberpaw admired his ability to stay so positive. She was an optimistic cat most of the time, she couldn't quite understand why she felt so nervous all of a sudden. _Perhaps Amberstar was pessimistic? Maybe that's why I start getting nervous when I have no reason to be._

"Well, behold. SkyClan," Honeysplash meowed proudly from up ahead, smiling from ear to ear.

Heart beating a little faster, Amberpaw bounded forwards to stand beside the pale golden warrior, Snowpaw and Dewpaw, accompanied by Redpaw, hot on her heels.

Emerging from the trees into the cloudy light of day, the grey-and-white ThunderClan she-cat had to blink a few times before her amber orbs adjusted to the change of light. And when they had adjusted…

They were standing at the top of a cliff, a sandstone gorge dipping down below. A small river cut through the gorge, sending a soft babbling noise upwards into the cool, still air.

In the sides of the gorge Amberpaw could just make out caves, many caves. Paths carved steeply up through the rock, leading up to the cave entrances.

Then, in the camp below, cats. Many, many cats, gathered together, some sharing tongues, others gossiping and even a few kits playing. Amberpaw could hear a little voice inside her head, _"At last. My clan."_

Amberpaw frowned, but tried to push it to the back of her mind. They had reached their destination, at last. SkyClan. This is what they had been training for.

It was then that something else inside of her seemed to kick off. Her heart suddenly lifted with love, gazing down at the gorge and the many cats in it. She felt a sort of calm, an inner peace.

Bright amber orbs flitting to one of the caves, she found a huge grin spreading across her face. _Home. I'm home. _Her attention veered off to a particular spot down by the river, where the ground was soft and sandy. _That's where I used to play with Sandy and Tadpole!_

Amberpaw had absolutely where all these thoughts and memories were coming from. Well, Amberstar obviously, but why had she never had them before? Her amber eyes fell to a crevice in the sandstone gorge walls. A thin winding path above the river led to it and the young she-cat couldn't help but feel drawn to it. _That's where I had that strange dream._

The young she-cat shook her head in confusion. These were all of Amberstar's thoughts and memories she was receiving, not hers. It was just so strange.

"Amberpaw, you okay?" Snowpaw's concerned mew pulled the grey-and-white feline from her thoughts.

Blinking, she focused her vision on the white tom beside her and forced a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine," _Just be happy, Amberpaw! Don't let the thoughts of Amberstar get you down, you've reached SkyClan, at long last!_

"Well then?" came Honeysplash's mew, "Follow me, just watch where you put your paws," with a subtle flick of her golden tail, the warrior leapt off the edge of the cliff.

Amberpaw gasped, amber eye stretching wide with fear, "Honeysplash!" bounding forwards to the very edge of the gorge she nervously looked down. Her eyes wandered to the foot of the cliff for Honeysplash's body, but she wasn't there.

In fact, there she was, on a path just below the top of the cliff face. Amberpaw relaxed, finally letting a smile creep to her face. She thought that the light golden warrior had been a goner there, but actually she'd just been leaping down onto the path.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Redpaw squealed excitedly and charged after her mentor, Dewpaw just behind her, but at a much slower, more cautious pace. Snowpaw fell in behind the dark-pelted tom and last but not least, Amberpaw trailed at the back.

Carefully, the slender patched she-cat jumped off the edge and landed nimbly on the rocky path below. _Ow!_ The grey-and-white she-cat glanced down at her paws, examining them briefly for any cuts. The stones were so _sharp_ and it felt like they were cutting into her pads.

Sighing, the young she-cat put her paw back down again and set off after her littermates, going slowly so she didn't overbalance and tumble down the path. It seemed, from the yelp up ahead, that Dewpaw and Snowpaw were experiencing the same thing with their paws.

Amberpaw smirked for a moment, before the sharp pain shot through her paws and her face screwed up in pain once more. _Well, look on the bright side, at least your paw's not bleeding._ The grey patched she-cat glanced down only to see scarlet droplets splashing onto the rocky path.

"Mouse-dung!" she scowled, rasping her tongue over her paw pad briefly before shaking it and then, cautiously, padding after her littermates.

The young ThunderClan she-cat didn't even notice they had reached the end of the path until Snowpaw spoke up, "Amberpaw! We're here!"

Her head jerked up and instantly all her pain was forgotten. Honeysplash led the way through a swarm of gathering cats, all peering at her and her littermates excitedly, murmuring amongst themselves.

"It's them! The ones Leafstar told us about!"

"About time they showed up!"

"Dewpaw, Snowpaw and Antpaw wasn't it?"

Amberpaw frowned, amber orbs settling on the cat who had made that last comment, a pale grey tom, "Amberpaw," she corrected him, letting her smile return at last when he ducked his head in embarrassment.

Dewpaw was, for once, the most eager of the three, darting ahead so that he was just behind Honeysplash. Redpaw had disappeared off to mingle with a green-eyed white she-cat. It was Amberpaw's guess that the two were littermates or best friends perhaps.

The grey patched she-cat noticed that the cats seemed to be gazing up at something. _But what?_ She craned her head towards where they seemed to be looking, a great flat rock jutting out of the cliff-side. Honeysplash stopped at the bottom of the cliff, head inclined to the sky.

"Would you like me to go and get Leafstar?" a pale brown tom offered, trotting up to the light golden she-cat, green eyes glittering with warmth.

Amberpaw noticed an immediate change in her body language when the other warrior approached Honeysplash, her amber gaze softened and she started to purr gently, "Yes please," she nuzzled the pale brown warrior lovingly, "You know what she's like, she can be in such a bad mood these days. Be gentle with her."

The older warrior smiled, licking her cheek, "Of course, love," his green gaze flickered to Amberpaw and her littermates for a moment before he flicked his tail and started to scramble up the rocky path that led to the great rock. After climbing a considerable distance, the warrior disappeared into a little side cave. Hushed murmurs came from the crevice in the rock face until, a few moments later, the pale brown tom emerged into the light again, swiftly leaping down beside Honeysplash, "She's coming," were his only words, spoken softly to the light golden she-cat.

It seemed that everything fell silent there and then. All that Amberpaw could hear was the babbling of the river meandering along at its sweet time. Pawsteps, soft at first, gradually getting louder until a cat emerged from darkness of the cave.

A brown-and-cream she-cat with amber eyes, Amberpaw couldn't help thinking she looked like Molespots. Like all of the SkyClan cats the young she-cat had seen in her time here so far, she was very thin, her bones poking out from under her pelt. Her amber eyes were glazed over, her steps weak and her fur thin and dull.

Yet, when she spotted the three apprentice standing at the foot of the cliff, gazing up at her expectantly, she seemed to come alive.

The cats around them parted so that Dewpaw, Snowpaw and Amberpaw stood alone as the elderly SkyClan leader made her way down to them. The grey-and-white apprentice's heart started to quicken its pace as the brown-and-cream she-cat approached them, _What if I'm not what she expected? What if she doesn't like me?_

Upon reaching the three littermates, the elderly she-cat gave a respectful nod of the head, "Greetings, apprentices of ThunderClan, Dewpaw, Amberpaw and Snowpaw," she dipped her head to each in turn, "My name is Leafstar, leader of SkyClan."

Behind them, cats shuffled restlessly. Leafstar flicked her tail dismissively, "Go about your duties," she meowed, voice raspy, "There is much I must discuss with these three. Come, we will talk in the Whispering Cave. Your paws are not suited to the rough stones of our camp so I trust you would rather speak with me there than up in my den?"

All three siblings gave a nod, neither of them sure what to say. Dewpaw at last seemed to gather up the courage to speak, smiling politely at the brown-and-cream she-cat, "Yes, of course. Thank you, Leafstar."

With a subtle flick of her tail, beckoning for them to follow, Leafstar began to pad away, amber gaze set on a small crevice in the side of the gorge.

Amberpaw, Snowpaw and Dewpaw trailed after her, though most of them were more concerned about their sore paws than the SkyClan leader up ahead.

Leafstar quickly picked up on this however, throwing a few words over her shoulder, "Frecklewish and Brackenpaw can tend to any sore paws later, now don't dither, we have much to discuss."

Once gathered together in the 'Whispering Cave' as Leafstar called it, the discussions at last began with the SkyClan leader asking how their journey was, were they all healthy and fit and such.

"Apart from sore paws," Dewpaw smiled, glancing sideways at his littermates, "We're pretty good. The question is how are _you_?" he motioned to her thinning fur and frail state.

Leafstar gave a sigh, not quite meeting any of the apprentices' expectant gazes, "I'll be blunt with you, not good. My clan and I have seen better days," her amber gaze turned wistful, "Twolegs have been building their nests all over the land just above the gorge. Though they haven't reached us yet, we have no idea when they're going to stop expanding their territory."

She let her amber orbs wander over the three cats for a moment, "They have scared away much of the prey, hence this," she nodded down at her skinny form, "Firestar came to me in a dream. He told me a little about you three, he also told me…" she paused to take a shuddery breath, "He told me I had a choice. I know that if we stay here, we will fall down the same path as the first SkyClan. We will be forced to disband, break away… He told me there was hope however, in the form of you three. He told me there would be space by the lake…" she broke off, searching the three cats' faces for reactions, "And I've made up my mind. I'm doing the best for my clan, I want you to lead us to the lake."

There was a pause amongst the four cats until Snowpaw spoke up, "Do you know of the prophecy? Feathe—StarClan sent me a prophecy, we were told to travel to find you and return you to SkyClan's rightful place, with the other clans beside the lake."

"Does that mean you'll lead my clan to the lake?"

Dewpaw smiled, "Of course we will. We didn't travel here for nothing!"

Leafstar eased, letting out a little chuckle, "You're so young, so blissfully unaware of how cruel life can be. It seems like only yesterday I was that young, now I'm leader of SkyClan," her amber gaze turned distant, clouding over, "I don't regret a thing, it's just such a responsibility. Sometimes I wish I could just let go."

Unsure of what to say, the three littermates sat in silence, each studying the SkyClan leader. After a few moments, the brown-and-cream warrior seemed to return from StarClan, "Look at me, drifting off. Why don't you go and get Frecklewish to see to your paws, then I'll see if I can get someone to take you on a tour of the gorge. You might as well make the most of it whilst you're here."

Amberpaw smiled gratefully, "Thank you," the pain in her paws had faded a little now, but she knew that as soon as she started walking, it would likely start bleeding again. Amberpaw certainly didn't want that to happen.

Dipping her head to the elderly leader, the grey-and-white she-cat started to pad towards the cave entrance, Dewpaw and Snowpaw just behind her. Emerging into the clouded light, she forced a smile, _We've reached SkyClan, why aren't you happy? This is what we've been travelling for the past moon to reach, now we're here and you're suddenly all depressed! Come on, lighten up! Perhaps even this time in a moon's time, you'll be home in ThunderClan._

That last thought brightened her whole mood. Amberpaw couldn't wait to get back to ThunderClan, to see Brightheart and Cloudtail, Seedflight and Lilystream, her friends… And Molespots.

"Did Leafstar ask you to come and see Frecklewish?" A bright mew from a small light brown tabby tom caught the pretty patched she-cat off guard. Jumping in surprise, she almost knocked Snowpaw, just behind her, off his paws.

Slowly regaining calm, smoothing her ruffled pelt, Amberpaw finally responded to the eager young tom, "Yes, she did," she studied the young cat for a moment, "Were you eavesdropping?"

The small tom smiled secretively, "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't," he began to bound away, glancing over his shoulders when the three cats didn't follow, "Well come on, don't you want me to take you to Frecklewish?"

Amberpaw grinned, finally shaking off her dark mood, nodding to her littermates and meowing, "Come on, let's go."

_Dewpaw_

After having their paws fussed over by Frecklewish and the pale brown tabby tom, who neither of them knew the name of, Dewpaw was glad to at last get away from it all. He led the way out of the medicine cat den, wincing at the foul smell of herbs that now clung to his dark grey pelt.

"Hi Dewpaw!" Redpaw meowed brightly, bouncing over to the three littermates.

_Kill me now._ Forcing a smile, Dewpaw managed to choke out a: "Hello Redpaw."

Amberpaw gave him an odd look before replying, with much more enthusiasm, "Hey Redpaw," she paused, deep in thought for a moment, "Oh! Leafstar suggested we get a tour of camp, would you be able to be our 'tour guide'?"

Dewpaw could have died there and then. _What was that for, Amberpaw! I've had enough of her already and we've barely been here five minutes!_ Shooting his sister a death glare, which she promptly returned with a smug grin, he sat there, bristling silently.

"Wow! A tour guide! I'd love to! I can show you everything! There's so much to see here, the nursery, the sky rock, the pool, Skywatcher's den, the Whispering Cave… Oh wait, you've already seen that," Dewpaw wasn't quite sure how the tortoiseshell apprentice had managed to fit so many words into one breath. However, before either of the three littermates had time to reply or even question that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, Redpaw was off, "Come on! Follow me, I'll show you the nursery first! Firesong gave birth a few days ago and her kits are the fluffiest, cutest little things to ever walk the earth!"

The three apprentices struggled to keep up with the bubbly young apprentice, their paws still a little sore and not used to high speed chases across the rocky ground of the gorge. It was only when they spilled into the nursery, sore-pawed and all, that they at last got to catch their breath.

Redpaw was crouching beside a dark ginger she-cat, green eyes firmly fixed on three little bundles of fluff. The mother, Firesong, Dewpaw presumed, looked a little overwhelmed by the four cats suddenly charging into the nursery, but didn't object, just pulling her kits a little closer to her.

"Hi Firesong, We came to see your kits, This is Dewpaw, Amberpaw and Snowpaw, the cats from ThunderClan, I'm giving them a tour," Redpaw enthused.

Firesong smiled warmly, "Well as long as they don't cause to much racket, they can stay," her green eyes flitted to her kits at her belly and instantly they filled with love, "This little one here, is Sootkit," she rest her tail on the smallest kit, a smoky grey tom. Sootkit let out a little squeak, but his mother instantly soothed his cries with a tender lick to his head.

"And these two are Cinderkit and Aspenkit," she nodded to the two little kits remaining, a fluffy grey-and-white she-kit and a golden brown tabby she-kit. Amberpaw was instantly all over the kits, cooing and such, whilst Dewpaw preferred to watch from a distance.

"Mousekit was made an apprentice recently, but Fallowfern, her mother still lives in the nursery. Her other kit, Stonekit… He didn't make it," Redpaw nodded solemnly to a pale brown she-cat, curled up at the rear of the den.

_What odd names. Fallowfern? Frecklewish? And I'm sure I heard a cat calling to some warrior called Harryclaw?_

"Tinycloud's expecting Sagewhisker's kits," Redpaw's informative mew dragged the dark-pelted apprentice from his thoughts, "She's due in a half moon or so, I think," she indicated to the den's last inhabitant, a small white she-cat to the rear of the den.

"They're so cute!" Amberpaw was still fussing over Firesong's kits and it was starting to get on the dark-furred tom's nerves.

"Well, do you want to see the rest of camp then?" Redpaw asked, inclining her head to study Dewpaw and his littermates.

Amberpaw finally stopped cooing over the kits to give an eager nod. Dewpaw smiled, "Definitely."

Redpaw gave a sharp flick of her tail, green eyes dancing with excitement, "Come on then, follow me!"

* * *

**Well, what did you think? Did you like it? BTW, that cat that Honeysplash was all lovey-dovey with was Nettlesplash. They are mates and I can promise, there will be kits somewhere in the near future...**

**Next time... They prepare for the journey to lake, Dewpaw teaches a few annoying apprentices some ThunderClan battle moves and Brightheart has a mental breakdown. Are you tempted?**

**Anyway, live, love, read and review!**

**Leafy, over and out! -poofs-**


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Training

**Well, here we go, chapter sixteen. :) Not really sure what to say here apart from school breaks up in 2 and a half weeks! Can't wait 'till the holidays, spending all day at the stables, riding and grooming, swimming in the pool. Summer Holidays = 3 3 3**

**Anyway, moving swiftly on... I do not own Warriors, as much as I wish I could...**

**I can't remember whether I ever told you guys, but I found out a few months ago I live in the same town as one of the Erin Hunters! :O Cherith Baldry, to be precise. I saw it online, then checked the address book and found her (I know, I'm such a stalker xD). When I've finished this series, I'm going to pop down to her house and bring them with me to show her. :D **

**Anyway, today's interesting fact... In the next book, one of our little threesome (Amberpaw, Snowpaw and Dewpaw) will become a parent. Well, the kits won't actually be born in the next book, but yeah... And before you ask, I will not tell you who it is, no matter how many times you beg. :P**

**Well, enough of me teasing you. xD Onto the review replies. 110 review! :D I want to try and get to 150 by the end of this book, which will be about 20 chapters, ish.**

**Doveflight ~ Thank you! :P You'll find out when we get to that bit, I'm trying not to give too much away. Don't want to spoil it for y'all!**

**Wyldclaw ~ Indeed, I know a few of them won't be too happy about moving, but they're pretty desperate. We'll just have to wait and see. ^^**

**Orangeflight ~ Redpaw is awesome. :) HoneyxNettle are so cute... o_O I just realised something really weird whilst writing this reply. There is a future pairing I have planned out and the cats are called Honey- and Nettle-. :/ They're different cats, in a different clan, but it's gonna be pretty confusing. xDDD**

**kittenWhisperer ~ xP Harryclaw is one of Leafstar's kits. They were born in the SkyClan manga (which I haven't actually read, just looked up online). He was named after Sol, who Leafstar thought was called Harry at the time, because he saved them from the twolegs. For not actually having read any of the SkyClan mangas, I think that was actually a pretty good explanation. xDDD**

**Numbuh 227 ~ Thank you! Tinycloud's kits may/may not be born on the journey. I haven't actually decided yet. They'll be leaving in the next chapter (not this chapter) and she's due in a half moon... So yeah, she could end up having her kits on the journey, or I'll have her wait till they reach the lake and they can be the first cats born in their new home... I'll have to decide.**

**Raggedstar 3 ~ I meant because you had posted twice. xP Onionstripe, cool name! ;) Yup, Sharpy claws (my awesome nickname for Sharpclaw) is still deputy, but for how much longer? :O I did just not give something away. -shifty eyes- Well, uh, pretend I never said that... -poofs-**

**Lightningbreeze ~ xD I probably would be too, but unfortunately, me and Redpaw have rather a lot in common. -cough-random hyperness and frequently getting over excited-cough-**

**Zilophone ~ :P Aw, thank you so much! I love those names, though, unfortunately, I've already picked out a name for Pebblepaw and I've already grown rather attached to it. Those are awesome names though, especially Pebblesplash! Feel free to suggest names for any other kits/apprentices though, there are many I haven't decided on a warrior name for yet. Oh and as for Dewpaw... -smirks mischievously- He met his future lover/mate in this book, though I won't say in which chapter... He hasn't yet developed feelings for her though, well, he has but he hasn't realised them. I can promise a bit of action with them later on in the book and a lot in the next book in particular. :D**

**Numbuh 227 - Awesome! I've skimmed over it, but haven't yet had time to read it properly, I will when I've got time, promise. :P**

**Anyway, live, love, read and review! Enjoy!**

* * *

_Snowpaw_

The white tom awoke from dark dreamless sleep to pale dawn light spilling in through the cave entrance. _Huh, where am I?_ Blinking sleepily, Snowpaw took a moment to recover his memories of the previous day. _Of course, we reached SkyClan! How could I forget?_

Glancing around the small cave that formed SkyClan's Apprentices' Den, the white-furred tom noticed that he seemed to be the only one awake. Amberpaw was sleeping nearby, her grey and white pelt slowly rising and falling as she slumbered, whilst Dewpaw was to the rear of the den.

Snowpaw noticed, with a mischievous smirk, that Redpaw had crept a little closer to his brother in the night and was only a half tail-length or so away from the dark-pelted tom. Dewpaw certainly wouldn't be too pleased when he awoke.

The final inhabitant of the den was a white she-cat, the same one that Redpaw had been with the previous day, Snowpaw had learnt from Redpaw's continuous babbling that she was her sister, Whitepaw. There was also another apprentice, a small pale brown she-cat called Mousepaw, but it looked like she'd already gotten up for training as her nest was vacant.

There had been one other apprentice, he had been informed by a certain bubbly tortoiseshell-and-white apprentice; Brightpaw, but she had received her warrior name a few days previous and now went by the name of Brightwing.

Sinking deeper into the moss-lined dip in the cave floor, he supressed a shiver at the cold breeze that was creeping into the Apprentices' Den. Although it was only dawn, Snowpaw could hear the hushed murmurs and echoes of pawsteps as cats emerged from their dens and went about their duties.

_I'd better get up then._ Stretching in the dim light, spine arching and ears flattening against his head, Snowpaw's jaws parted in a long yawn. It would be strange for the next few days; not having to travel for miles and miles, waking up in the same nest in the same den each morning.

After almost a moon of journeying, the white-furred apprentice had grown rather accustomed to the lifestyle of a loner, trekking far and wide from home to home. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be a clan cat, to not have a destination you were supposed to get to by the end of the day.

Paws feeling a little restless, Snowpaw decided to leave his denmates to slumber a while longer whilst he got up and explored the camp a little more. Shooting one last glance at his snoozing littermates, plus Redpaw and Whitepaw, the snowy-pelted tom heaved a deep breath and emerged from the shadows of the cave and into the pale light of a cloudy dawn.

Slowly and with great caution, the white tom began to tread the path down to the main camp. Even from here, he could see that SkyClan was a hive of activity at this time of morning. A commanding dark ginger tom was organising patrols from a great rock at the foot of the cliff, his voice bouncing off the walls of the gorge.

"Plumwillow, Sandypelt, Greywhisper and Robinsong! You take a patrol to the northern border, see if there are any twolegs about. Remember be careful, we're all more than aware of what twolegs are capable of."

A light ginger and white tom and a dark grey she-cat exchanged delighted glances at being assigned to the same patrol. The tom leaned closer to his female companion, licking her cheek softly, amber eyes filled with tenderness and love.

"Enough lovey-dovey, Sandypelt and Plumwillow!" came a bossy voice from a very dark grey she-cat with piercing amber eyes, "This is a patrol, remember? You can moon over each other on your own time."

Shrinking away from each other shyly, Plumwillow and Sandypelt padded over to the rest of the patrol, each softly muttering a "Sorry". The dark pelted she-cat gave them a sharp look for a moment before her gaze softened and she led the way towards the rocky path that led away from camp.

Sandypelt and Plumwillow followed, hot on their heels a golden brown tabby she-cat, who Snowpaw remembered Redpaw had introduced as Robinsong, her older sister.

"Oh!" the white tom stumbled over his own paws, tumbling to the stony ground. Muttering harshly to himself, Snowpaw realised he had gotten a bit too absorbed in watching the SkyClan cats going about their duties that he hadn't noticed he'd reached the end of the path.

"You okay there?" he was approached by a brown tabby tom with white paws, amber eyes clouded a little by concern for the snowy white tom.

Ducking his head in embarrassment, Snowpaw brushed the dust and pebbles out of his pelt and clambered to his paws, "Uh, yeah. Just didn't realise the path ended so suddenly," came his feeble excuse. In all honesty, the white tom felt a little bad for the SkyClan cats. They had probably been expecting brave, strong, experienced warriors, not a little apprentice who tripped over his own paws, "Sorry."

The warrior offered him a sympathetic smile, "Sorry? You don't need to say sorry, you're not accustomed to our rocky territory, you're bound to have a few stumbles," his amber eyes washed over Snowpaw for a moment, examining him closely, "ThunderClan is forested you say… You're Snowpaw, right?"

Upon hearing 'ThunderClan', Snowpaw grinned from ear to ear, "Yup!" he meowed brightly, almost forgetting his brief tumble a few moments prior, "We have great big green deciduous forests, though our camp is a sort of stone hollow, but the stones aren't as big and rough as these," he indicated with a flick of his feathered white tail to the scattering of stones and boulders surrounding them, "Oh and yes, I'm Snowpaw."

The SkyClan tom smiled, amber eyes dancing with amusement, "Your forests sound nice. We only have a small one really, but it suits us fine," his eyes clouded for a moment before he shook his head, "I'm Cloudfoot. Leafstar asked me to come and get you and your littermates?" he glanced behind the white-furred tom, obviously searching out Amberpaw and Dewpaw.

"They're still asleep," Snowpaw put in, "But I can see Leafstar and pass on the message later if that's easier?" he offered, inclining his head a little.

Relaxing, Cloudfoot smiled, "I don't see why not," he indicated with a brief motion of his tail to a brown-and-cream she-cat slumped by the fresh-kill pile, "She's just over there."

Snowpaw expressed his thanks before giving a brief nod of the head and trotting over to the SkyClan leader, amber eyes glowing with warmth in the dim of the morning, "Leafstar," he offered brightly, "Cloudfoot said you wanted to see me and my littermates? They're kind of asleep at the moment, they're really tired, I hope you don't mind"-

Shaking her head, Leafstar cut in, "Oh no, of course not. That's fine. You can tell them what I've said," she gave an approving nod to a distant Cloudfoot before focusing her restless amber orbs on the white apprentice presented before her, "It's just a little preparation for the journey. Training. I'd like you to train some of our apprentices in the way of ThunderClan, some things that will help for the journey. Then perhaps they can teach you some SkyClan moves?"

Listening intently, Snowpaw gave a nod of approval. Leafstar had informed her clan that she had made the decision for them to leave the gorge for the lake the previous evening and to be quite honest, not all of them were keen. Patchfoot and Petalnose, two of the clan's elders, had in particular displayed their reluctance to want to leave.

The apprentices and kits of the clans, however, seemed very excited about the whole prospect of journeying to a new home. _Hopefully we won't have to deal with any reluctant apprentices, not wanting to leave and such._

"Sure," he meowed calmly, amber orbs flickering over the cream-and-brown tabby she-cat for a moment, "Is that it? Is there anything else?"

Leafstar shook her head, turning away for a moment, "The apprentices have already been alerted and should be waiting by the camp entrance shortly. You will have a SkyClan warrior to accompany you, in case any of them should try to stir up trouble. The medicine cat apprentice, Brackenpaw, will also be coming with you. I want all of the apprentices to be prepared for whatever the journey may throw at them, are you okay with that?"

Snowpaw swallowed nervously, "We'll do our best."

Leafstar flashed him a smile, amber gaze soft, "Good. Thank you, not just for this, for everything. For coming to find us without a thought of what your clan may think."

Beginning to pad away, Snowpaw glanced over his shoulder, "It was my destiny," he meowed simply, "It was all of our destinies."

_Dewpaw_

"Do I really _have _to learn battle moves? I'm a medicine cat for StarClan's sake, I fight sicknesses, not cats!"

Biting back a sharp retort, Dewpaw let his amber eyes flicker over the light brown tabby form of Brackenpaw for a moment, "Yes, you do _have_ to," he meowed curtly, flicking his tail dismissively as they walked, a SkyClan warrior up ahead leading them to the training clearing, "Because if a fox comes charging towards you, snarling and threatening to attack, he's not going to ask 'Are you a medicine cat?'. No, in fact, if you are a medicine cat, he'd probably be more interested in you, 'cause you're easier to fight and kill."

Brackenpaw's green eyes widened with fear for a moment before he looked away from the older dark-pelted tom, "I guess not, sorry."  
Smirking victoriously, Dewpaw left Brackenpaw be and picked up the pace a little so he fell in beside Rabbitleap, a pale brown tom who had been assigned by Leafstar to lead them to a suitable training area and overlook the training session. The dark-pelted tom got the impression that Leafstar held a lot of trust in Rabbitleap as he was often chosen for important duties and such.

"Are we almost there?" Dewpaw inquired to the older cat, briefly glancing over his shoulder at the patrol behind him. There were eight cats altogether, including himself and Rabbitleap. There was, of course, Snowpaw and Amberpaw, then Redpaw, much to his disgust, her sister, Whitepaw, Mousepaw and then Brightwing.

Although not an apprentice, Brightwing had decided she still wanted to participate in the training session with the other apprentices, seeing as she had only just been made a warrior and she wanted to be as prepared as possible for the journey ahead.

"Almost," Rabbitleap replied, nodding to a gap in the trees up ahead, where pale morning light was streaming down onto the forest floor, "The hidden clearing is just up ahead. The ground is soft and mossy there, ideal for battle training," his amber gaze flickered over Dewpaw for a moment, "I understand you'll be teaching them some ThunderClan moves?"

The dark-furred apprentice gave a calm nod, "Yes, we'll show them a few of our battle moves and teach them a few skills needed when journeying."  
The pale brown tom blinked and nodded, "Leafstar suggested we teach you a few of our moves, like the sky crusher?" when Dewpaw gave the warrior an inquisitive look, he continued, "Redpaw was very eager to teach it, she has a gift for it. It won't be long 'till she's a warrior."

Dewpaw stiffened, _StarClan, really? Redpaw, again? Haven't I had enough of her already?_ Forcing a smile, the dark grey tom nodded, "Sure, sounds great."

Emerging into the light of the Hidden Clearing, Rabbitleap broke away from the group, settling under a spreading birch tree so he could watch the session from a distance. Nodding politely to the pale brown tom, Dewpaw led the rest of the little group into the centre of the clearing.

Amberpaw and Snowpaw padded over to him, settling both sides of him. Dewpaw motioned with a flick of his tail for the apprentices, plus Brightwing, to take a seat on the mossy clearing floor.

After silencing a few murmurs with a shake of his head, Dewpaw began, taking charge of the session, "Right, you're here because you're going on a journey. This journey is going to be a long and hard journey, it took us almost a moon for the three of us to get here, with a whole clan it'll be considerably longer," he nodded to his littermates beside him, "We're going to do our best to prepare you with the knowledge we've gained from our time journeying. So first, we're going to show you some traditional ThunderClan moves, starting with the lightning strike."

Having taught the SkyClan cats several of ThunderClan's unique battle skills, Dewpaw had instructed them to try them on each other. Amberpaw was currently helping Mousepaw get the hang of the Lightning Strike, whilst Snowpaw was trying to teach Brightwing, Whitepaw and Rabbitleap, who had decided to join in, the forest attack.

Which left Dewpaw with Redpaw. He just couldn't _stand_ the bubbly tortoiseshell-and-white apprentice, she was so happy-go-lucky and it really got on his nerves.

"Yah!" Redpaw managed to land a paw blow on his shoulder whilst his mind had been consumed by other such thoughts. Reeling back a little, caught off balance, Dewpaw decided to take things to the next level.

_I've been going easy on her, time to step things up._ Darting from side to side, the dark grey tom aimed to confuse the SkyClan she-cat. When she jumped backwards in an attempt to put more space between herself and her opponent, Dewpaw leapt in with a belly rake; sliding across the floor and raking along the underside of her belly with sheathed claws.

Redpaw stumbled, falling to the soft clearing floor. Dewpaw smirked victoriously, watching as she lay there panting for a moment, green eyes gleaming with excitement from the attack.

"I win," he meowed smugly, lifting his head high to the murky grey sky above and letting the soft breeze ruffle his thick grey fur.

"Arrogant furball," Redpaw meowed teasingly, getting to her paws and poking the dark grey tom playfully, "I think it's time I taught you something. Would you like to learn the sky crusher?"

As much as Dewpaw hated to admit, that last fight had been pretty fun. Smiling, he surprised himself by replying with a "Sure, why not?"

Leaf-green eyes brightening with delight, the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat nodded to a nearby oak tree, "You stay here, I'm going to demonstrate it on you."

Nodding calmly, Dewpaw watched as the young she-cat leapt easily up into the branches of the nearby tree and began creeping along one of the branches that hung directly over him. _I wonder what she's going to do? What's it mean by the sky crusher?_

Redpaw crept along the slim branch until she was just above him. She stopped, pausing for a moment before bunching her muscles and taking a deep breath. _Wait. She's not going to jump is she?_

"Redpaw, I don't think this is a good ide"-

The tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat sprung off the branch and right onto the shoulders of a rather shocked Dewpaw. Buckling under the unexpected weight of the slender tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, the dark-pelted tom found himself slammed against the ground.

Normally, Dewpaw would have been angry, but for some odd reason, he wasn't. Instead, when Redpaw got off him and he got to his paws, he smiled and even began laughing, "Well, uh, I certainly wasn't expecting that," his dark amber orbs rested on the young she-cat for a moment, "I can see why they call it the Sky Crusher."

Redpaw giggled, "Want to learn how to do it?"

Dewpaw smirked, "You bet."

_Seedflight_

A panic stricken yowl coming from the Elders' Den awoke Seedflight from her mid-afternoon slumber. Having already taken Honeypaw out training and been on a patrol, the young warrior's duties were finished for the day and after the last sleepless night, she had decided to try and fit in a few more winks.

But it seemed that wasn't to be. Seedflight was used to the drill now, it was Brightheart yowling, it always was. Over the last moon or so, the ginger-and-white elder kept having panic attacks, asking where her kits were, when they were coming back.

Shaking her head sadly, the pale ginger warrior rose from her nest reluctantly and slipped out of the Warriors' Den. There were a few raised heads amongst the cats in the hollow, watching her expectantly. Seedflight had sort of taken over as Brightheart's 'soother' when she had her panic attacks, so it was assumed now that she would tend to the elder whenever needed.

Sighing, Seedflight padded towards the Elders' Den, the yowling getting louder as she drew closer. "My kits! My kits! Where are they?! Amberkit, Snowkit, Dewkit! Where have they gone?!"

Trotting into the den, sleepy green eyes filled with concern, Seedflight immediately sat herself down next to a panicking Brightheart. The ginger and white elder was breathing heavily, the blur of words slipping her jaws making absolutely no sense to the young warrior.

Cloudtail sat beside her, deep blue eyes filled with worry for his mate and his fluffy white tail draped over her shoulder in an attempt to soothe her. But for once, the long-haired white tom could do nothing to settle Brightheart.

"Seedpaw!" came Brightheart's hysteric mew upon spotting the young pale ginger warrior, "Have you seen my kits, Snowkit, Amberkit and Dewkit? They just disappeared from their nest, I don't know where they've gone!" her desperate meow fell to a hushed whisper, "What if a fox has gotten them."

The pale ginger she-cat sighed, shaking her head at Brightheart's words, "It's okay Brightheart," she mewed softly, green eyes flooding with concern for the elder, "It's me, Seedflight, not Seedpaw. I'm a warrior now. And your kits," her gaze turned wistful, "They're apprentices; Amberpaw, Dewpaw and Snowpaw now."

A sob shook the older she-cat's shoulders, "What happened to them? Where have they gone?" her yowling had been reduced to whimpers, "Did they not love me? Did they not love their mother?"

Seedflight rest her tail tip on Brightheart's shoulder soothingly, "I don't know where they've gone," she whispered as gently as she could, "I miss them too, I'd do anything to have them back," her green gaze flickered over the sobbing ginger-and-white she-cat for a moment, "Of course they loved you. They loved you more than words could say, you did nothing wrong."

Brightheart seemed to calm for a moment, her good eye locking with Seedflight's leaf-green ones, "He really liked you, he did," she murmured wistfully, a hint of amusement in her eye, "Snowpaw. Loved you even. But he's gone," she looked away, "They're all gone, dead, in StarClan."

Seedflight tried to ignore Brightheart's first comment, thought the thought of Snowpaw loving her made her heart give a little flutter, "They're not dead, they're just gone for a while, they'll be back," she looked Brightheart in the eye, "I know they will.

Brightheart pulled away, "No, they're gone, they're dead. They're never coming back and it's all my fault."

Seedflight's eyes stretched wide with fear and concern for the elder, "No, it's not you're fault, they will come back," she meowed, her voice suddenly filling with such ferocity, "You can't give up on them. I won't, I will never give up on them. I will _never_ give up on Snowpaw."

* * *

**Well, what did you think? Like? Love even? Sorry if it's a bit rushed. :P**

**Next time ~ SkyClan and our three little friends set off on their journey to the lake...**

**Thanks for reading and remember: Live, love, read and review!**

**Leafy, over and out! -poofs-**


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Setting Off

**Wow, I have now reached 50,000 words on this story! Cue the celebration music! Sorry for not updating yesterday, my drumming exam is tomorrow so I had a last minute drum lesson yesterday and didn't get back till late. Sorry!**

**To make up for that, I made this chapter long and juicy! We introduce a new point of view here, Redpaw! She will be making more appearances, much longer ones at that, in the next book. :P Anyway, interesting fact time! Redpaw is secretly a ninja. xD Don't worry! I'm joking, although I'd love it if she were a ninja. xP I haven't got an interesting fact today, unfortunately. :/**

**I do not own Warriors, Erin Hunter does. **

**Review Reply time!**

**Toolazytologin ~ Aw, thank you so much! You don't know how much that means to me! :')**

**Numbuh 227 ~ He he, I believe you _did_ see hints of RedxDew. I wanted to make it longer, but I got a bit of writer's block. Thank you! :P**

**Hawkwing of WindClan ~ :D Indeed it is!**

**Zilophone ~ Ooh! Finchwhisker! I like it! :D**

**Orange ~ Thank you! :P**

**Sunpaw ~ Aw, thank you!**

**Firepaw ~ Here we are, more, just for you! xP**

* * *

_Amberpaw_

"My clan, my wonderful clan, SkyClan," it was the morning that they were to set off on their journey and Amberpaw and the rest of SkyClan, plus Dewpaw and Snowpaw, had gathered to listen to Leafstar's speech before they set off, "Today we set off on our journey. Our journey to a better place, where perhaps we may at last be at peace."

As Leafstar let her amber gaze wash over her clan, Amberpaw couldn't help feel doubt nibbling at her belly. _What if we were wrong? What will the other clans think when we bring SkyClan to the lake? What if they're not accepted as a clan?_

As much as the pale grey she-cat tried to dust her worries off, she just couldn't get them out of her mind. _What if when we return, ThunderClan don't accept us? What if they think of us as traitors? What if Molespots has forgotten about me?_

"I'm not going to lie though. Living beside the lake with the other clans won't be easy, the other clans have to accept us once more. There _will_ be border skirmishes, there will be battles and there will be prey shortages, but that is to be expected when living as a clan," a grey-and-ginger cat sitting near Amberpaw perked up at the mention of battles. The grey-and-white she-cat rolled her eyes, _Battles? Battles are awful, cats get killed! Why would anyone _want_ to be in a battle?_

Leafstar continued to roll on, "I'm going to be honest with you. I only have two lives left, I may not even make it to the end of this journey, but I promise, I will stand by you and risk my remaining lives to ensure that our kits live to see the lake," a few cats shuffled anxiously when the cream-and-brown she-cat informed them on how many lives she had left, "When the sun has risen above the forest," Leafstar flicked her tail towards the deciduous woods just above the gorge, "We will depart. But for now, everyone must eat, get their strengths up. Frecklewish and Brackenpaw have travelling herbs for all of you, so don't forget about those. But for now, my clan, be strong. This journey will be a hard one, but we will make it to the end," with a sharp flick of her tail, the elderly leader disappeared into her den.

Amberpaw just stared up at the crevice in the Cliffside that formed the leader's den for a moment before she was approached by Snowpaw. The white apprentice poked her gently with a snowy white forepaw to get her attention, amber eyes glimmering with excitement, "Amberpaw?"

Amberpaw blinked, banishing any other thoughts for a moment, "Uh, yes?" she inclined her head, letting her bright amber gaze run over her brother for a few brief seconds, "What is it?"

The snowy-pelted tom smiled warmly at his littermate, "Frecklewish has asked for Redpaw, Dewpaw, you and I to help carry her herbs for the journey. Plus, we need to get our travelling herbs," he motioned with a dip of his head to the cave that formed the SkyClan Medicine Cat den.

Amberpaw gave a nod, "Sure," she studied Snowpaw for a moment, "Wait, why isn't Brackenpaw helping? I thought he was medicine cat apprentice?"

As if already expecting this question, Snowpaw quickly replied with, "He's helping Tinycloud, she's really close to kitting now, so someone needs to keep a close eye on her," he glanced over at Frecklewish, who was waiting patiently outside the Medicine Cat's den, tail twitching from side to side, "We should probably get over there."

Nodding, Amberpaw rose from her slumped position and after shaking the aches from her bones, trotted after her brother. Redpaw and Dewpaw were already with the SkyClan Medicine Cat, though weren't talking.

The dark grey apprentice was giving the younger she-cat the evil eye for some reason. Amberpaw sighed, shaking her head in dismay, _They were getting along so well yesterday! Yet now they seem to be back to square one, I need to try and work out some way to get them together. They'd be such a cute couple, if you remove the fact that he hates her, they're perfect for each other! _ She smirked at the thought of Dewpaw falling in love.

"Amberpaw, Snowpaw. Your travelling herbs," the mottled medicine cat's mew brought Amberpaw back to reality. Blinking as if trying to adjust to the light of the real world, the young she-cat stepped forward and picked up the bundle of herbs neatly between her teeth.

_Eugh! They taste disgusting! _Screwing up her face in distaste, the grey-and-white she-cat sat herself down, dropping the herb bundle at her paws. Judging from Snowpaw's similar expression, he was also not looking forward to swallowing the assortment of herbs Frecklewish had bundled together for them.

After eyeing the herb bundle for a few moments, Amberpaw decided she might as well get it over and done with, reluctantly leaning forward and gulping down the strange-tasting plants. Amberpaw felt like she might throw up. They were absolutely foul!

As they slid down her throat, the amber-eyed apprentice managed to resist retching. Snowpaw, however, didn't manage to contain the urge and coughed up a few leaves onto the rocky gorge floor. Amberpaw wrinkled up her nose in disgust, "Eugh, Snowpaw!"

The white-furred tom ducked his head in embarrassment, not meeting his sister's disgusted amber gaze. Dusting aside the few leaves in the hope no one else had seen, the white tom managed to choke out, "Sorry."

"Come on, you two. You'll be carrying tansy, horsetail and catmint," Frecklewish's mew, starting to edge with impatience, jerked the two apprentices' heads in her direction. She beckoned to the pile of herb bundles at her paws, "Chop chop, we haven't got all day you know."

Swallowing the last of the foul tasting herbs, Amberpaw nodded, padding over to the Medicine Cat. The sun had almost risen above the forest, so they would be leaving shortly.

Cats were starting to mull around the camp entrance, their mews echoing around the gorge. Frecklwish gazed longingly at them for a moment, shifting anxiously before blinking and pushing forward the bundle of herbs.

Dipping her head politely to the medicine cat, Amberpaw gently picked up several of the herb bundles. They weren't quite as disgusting as her travelling herbs, most of the taste being masked by the oak leaf they were wrapped up in. _Is it really necessary to bring herbs with us? Can't Frecklewish just collect them when she needs them, it would save a lot of carrying._

Shaking away the thoughts, the grey-and-white she-cat decided to follow Snowpaw, who after having collected his own herb bundles was making his way towards the rest of the cats waiting to leave. _Where will SkyClan even live when we get to the lake? Will there be enough prey for them? Will it be like the territory they're adapted to? _Amberpaw couldn't help the dark thoughts this time, she couldn't just dismiss them, just like that, with a flick of her tail.

"Hey! Keep your paws out of the way!"

"Don't blame me for your own clumsiness, mouse-brain."

"Mouse-brain! Who are you calling a mouse-brain?"  
"You, Dewpaw! Silly!"

"So I'm silly now, am I?"

Amberpaw heaved a sigh, turning to see Dewpaw and Redpaw having started an argument. Well, Dewpaw had started an argument, Redpaw was just playfully teasing the dark grey tom, who had then taken it the wrong way.

"Calm down, you two," she mewed impatiently rolling her eyes, amber gaze not even meeting the other two apprentices' orbs, "We've got to work together on this journey."

Dewpaw opened his jaws to protest, probably with a line such as 'but she's so annoying!', but a loud yowl from Leafstar cut him off before the words even slipped his jaws.

"SkyClan! The time has come for us to depart!"

_Redpaw_

"SkyClan! The time has come for us to depart!"

The moment those words tumbled out of Leafstar's mouth, the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat felt her heart sink. She may have been putting on a brave face, perhaps even looking excited to the other cats about the journey on the outside, but deep down, every fibre of her being was dead against leaving.

Redpaw knew it was inevitable; if they didn't leave, they would be either driven out by the twolegs anyway or would die of starvation. Each and every member of SkyClan were already far skinnier than was healthy, had they stayed a moment longer, it is likely they would quickly have begun to starve.

But this was home, this gorge, as unlikely as it may have seemed, was home. Redpaw had been born there, grown up there… Life without the gorge was just unimaginable.

She felt a tail touch her shoulder and realised it was Amberpaw, "You okay?"

Redpaw forced a bright smile, "Of course! I'm great! I'm so excited, I can't wait to see the lake!" she blurted out in the most excitable manner she could manage. She couldn't wait to see the lake, that statement of course was true; it sounded amazing, a huge band of water of which the clans were settled around.

But there was no way that the lake could be as wonderful a home as the gorge. Glancing over her shoulder briefly as the clan began to gather around Leafstar, eagerly anticipating the start of their journey to a better life.

_The gorge._ Letting her green eyes wander about the gorge, she smiled when she spotted the Nursery. That was where she had been born, where she'd played with Whitepaw as a kit. Many fond memories were held in those stone walls. But there would be no more SkyClan kits born in that cave, no more happy days, filled with play in their safe walls.

There would be no more tiny claw marks added to the 'wall of claws' as they called it as young SkyClan kits experimented with their built in weapons of destruction.

Firesong's litter; Sootkit, Aspenkit and Cinderkit, would be the last SkyClan cats born in the gorge. Tinycloud's kits were due in just under half a moon and would probably be born on the journey, or in their new home.

"Redpaw? You coming?" a concerned mew from a green-eyed white she-cat jerked the calico apprentice from her thoughts.

Putting on a wide smile, Redpaw gave a nod and sprung over to Whitepaw. _The gorge is, no, was home. We will find a new home by the lake and it'll be even better than the gorge, _she told herself encouragingly, _Yes, this journey marks the start of a bright future for SkyClan._

This time, Redpaw didn't have to fake a smile as a wide grin soon found itself spreading across her face. Heart lifting a little, the calico SkyClan she-cat settled beside her sister for a moment as they awaited Leafstar's signal to start the departure.

"Cats of SkyClan, it is time we leave our home. The gorge has treated us nicely for the most part, but it was simply not our destiny to reside here," Leafstar had started into a little speech, "We have been, since the dawn of the clans, living amongst the other four clans. There were always meant to be five clans and it is time we make our return to the clans, to the lake."

The cream-and-brown she-cat seemed to be looking Redpaw right in the eye. Beaming brightly, the apprentice ducked her head shyly for a moment.

"I would do anything so that we could stay here in the gorge, but it is not to be, it never was. Come, join me, my clan, my family, as we set out on the journey of a lifetime. A journey to a new start, a better place. Come my friends, it is time we leave."

A flick of her tail as the elderly leader leapt off of the large boulder she had been perched on was the signal. The signal for the journey to start, for SkyClan to leave the gorge.

Smiling, vibrant green eyes glimmering with hope, Redpaw cast one final glance over her shoulder, "Goodbye, gorge. I hope someday, some other cats will settle here and you'll offer them a good a home as you did us. Thank you and Goodbye."

_Dewpaw_

"How come you're not carrying any herbs?" Dewpaw complained, the leaf bundles clamped tightly between his jaws muffling the sound. They had not long ago set out on their journey and were now travelling through SkyClan's forest, the cloudy sky above threatening to open up and rain down on them.

To add to that, it was cold and, for once, Dewpaw wished he had his brother's pelt. Snowpaw was looking pretty pleased with himself, head carried high as he held his own bundle of herbs that Frecklewish had given him.

"Because," Redpaw meowed brightly, not picking up on Dewpaw's dull mood at all, "Whitepaw offered to help carry them. She thinks if she helps out more, she'll be made a warrior sooner," she mewed 'matter-of-factly'.

Dewpaw couldn't help but bristle at her jolly, 'happy-go-lucky' response. As much as the dark-pelted tom hated to admit, he had been having fun with Redpaw a few days ago when they'd been battle training, but that was to be expected, right? Battle training _was_ fun, no matter who your opponent was, well, at least if you were winning.

The point is, that Dewpaw was now back to hating the bubbly younger apprentice once more and it suited him just fine. He didn't particularly want to be friends with her, he may have to fight her in battle one day if SkyClan settled by the lake.

Yet, the dark grey tom had been assigned to travel with the calico feline. All the cats had been told to stick together in pairs, so if they got lost, there'd be two of them; safety in numbers or something like that. Anyway, somehow, Amberpaw had managed to wriggle them into travelling together.

Dewpaw made a mental note to kill his sister when he next got the chance. Amberpaw knew only too well how much the dark-furred tom _couldn't stand_ Redpaw, so why did she keep managing to put them together? Did she like seeing her brother suffering during Redpaw's long and rambling exclamations about how excited she was?

Realising that he'd left the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat hanging in a conversation, awaiting his response, Dewpaw finally managed to force out a reply, struggling with the leaf bundles in his jaws, "I think you should still be carrying herbs, it's a matter of duty. Here, why don't you take some of mine?" before Redpaw could protest, though Dewpaw very much doubted she would do such a thing, the dark-pelted tom stopped and dropped a few herbs at the paws of his travelling companion's paws.

Redpaw hesitated for a moment before picking up the leaf bundles without a word. Dewpaw smirked victoriously and began walking once more, enjoying the feeling of a lighter baggage. _I win._

After walking for a moment in silence, which Dewpaw had been savouring, Redpaw began to talk again, "Oh look! I think it's going to rain soon!" her leaf-green eyes danced with excitement as she glanced up at the sky. Despite only having carried the herbs for a few moments, Redpaw had already mastered the 'talk-without-dropping-your-herbs', much to Dewpaw's annoyance.

"Because rain is definitely a good thing," the dark-pelted ThunderClan tom meowed sarcastically, accompanied by an over-exaggerated roll of his dark amber eyes.

Unfortunately, Redpaw didn't realise that last comment from Dewpaw's jaws had been sarcastic and was grinning from ear to ear, "I know right? Everyone else seems to hate the rain, I don't see why. At last, someone who agrees with me!"

_How can anyone be such a mouse-brain._ Gritting his teeth and restraining from snapping, Dewpaw replied bluntly, "I don't know why anyone would hate the rain, perhaps because it gets you _cold_ and _wet_!"

As if on cue, it was then that the heavens decided to open up on the journeying cats, letting loose what must've been gallons and gallons of water in a single split-second. Dewpaw tensed, wincing when the first fat, heavy raindrop splashed onto his thick grey pelt.

"Oh, isn't this wonderful," he meowed sarcastically, amber eyes darkening and narrowing when they fell upon the calico she-cat beside him, who was merrily trotting along.

"It is! I just love the rain! It's so cool and refreshing!" the calico she-cat began to dance about, springing onto a nearby tree stump and swiftly leaping off, green eyes bright with delight.

Dewpaw couldn't help but laugh at Redpaw's antics. He admired her ability to be so upbeat about everything, even if was _extremely annoying._

Shaking off the laughter, Dewpaw returned to his emotionless straight face when the younger apprentice bounced back to him, her tail flicking from side to side with happiness.

"Well, uh," Dewpaw choked out, "that was certainly interesting."

"Did you like it?" Redpaw asked, meow bright as she studied her dark-furred companion with leaf-green eyes.

Remembering his place, the ThunderClan tom realised his emotions had gotten the better of him and he cleared his throat before delivering a: "It was interesting, that wasn't to say I liked it."

As if she hadn't even heard his response, Redpaw motioned for him to stop. Dewpaw froze, _What is it? Is there a fox, or a badger perhaps? Oh no, what if it's a band of rogues! SkyClan are hardly strong enough to fight._

But what Redpaw then followed up with, Dewpaw was completely unprepared for, "Listen," she covered his jaws with her calico tail before he could protest, "Don't you just love the sound of the rain falling onto the leaves?"

Dewpaw let his fur lie flat, blinking, "No."

Redpaw's pelt didn't seem at all ruffled from that last reply and instead changed the subject completely, still smiling brightly, "I guess we should get to know each other a little better, we are friends after all!"

The dark-furred tom stared ahead blankly, "I don't seem to remember agreeing to that," he meowed bluntly, keeping a straight face.

The calico apprentice poked him playfully, "You're so funny, Dewpaw!" she giggled, leaf-green eyes coming alive with happiness, "Well, I'll start then. I'm Redpaw, I have one sister, Whitepaw. I have an older brother called Flintfang and an older sister called Robinsong. My parents are Cherrytail and Sharpclaw, he's the deputy!"

"That's nice."  
Redpaw didn't seem to sense Dewpaw had already had enough and continued to talk about herself, "I was born in the nursery in the gorge on a really stormy night! There was lightning and thunder apparently! Anyway, my mentor is Honeysplash, she's awesome! I can't wait to be a warrior, I really want an awesome warrior name, like Redheart!", having at last finished, Redpaw's green eyes landed on the dark grey tom beside her expectantly.

Dewpaw blinked, "That's all very well, but I'm not telling you about me, you know enough already," was his blunt response to the younger she-cat.

Redpaw prodded him affectionately, causing Dewpaw to stiffen, "Come on, I want to know more, what are your family like? Are they nice?"

Dewpaw let his dark amber eyes run over Redpaw for a moment. _My family._ As if they had a mind of their own, Dewpaw then found his jaws saying, "Okay, I guess."

The calico apprentice looked absolutely delighted, green eyes lighting up with joy, "Oh really, wow! I never thought grumpy, old Dewy Paws would agree to that!"

Dewpaw gave her a look,_ Of all names, Dewy Paws, really? And I am not grumpy._ Heaving a sigh, he started with his story, "I'm Dewpaw. I have a sister called Amberpaw and a brother called Snowpaw, which you know of course. I also have an older sister called Whitewing, she has two kits called Ivypool and Dovewing, so they're my cousins," he paused, "Let's see. My mother is called Brightheart and my father is called Cloudtail. I was born in the ThunderClan nursery, my denmates were Seedkit and Lilykit, now Seedflight and Lilystream. I once escaped the camp and got lost in ShadowClan territory…"

Dewpaw broke off, letting his amber eyes read Redpaw's expression for a moment. He wondered how much more he should tell her. The calico she-cat flicked her tail, nodding and motioning for him to continue, still smiling brightly.

"I was apprenticed to Birchfall, at first I hated him and complained, so I got confined to camp for half a moon. But then I got to know him and realised he was ok. I did training, the usual stuff… There was a battle and I kil…" he froze. _Should I be telling her this? What would she do if she found out I had killed a cat?_ He studied her for a moment, _Ah, well. She'll find out sooner or later, _"I killed a cat."

Redpaw's eyes stretched wide with shock, "Y-you killed a-another c-cat?" she stammered, her brain still trying to process his words.

"I didn't mean to," Dewpaw quickly put in, "It was accidental, it just sort of happened," his ears flattened in shame, "I really regret it, I wish that battle had never happened."

Redpaw nodded slowly, at last taking in the fact.

Dewpaw sighed, _I may as well continue, _"Then the prophecy happened," he motioned to himself with a flick of his tail, "So here I am."

The calico apprentice nodded, at last letting her smile return. She glanced up ahead at Whitepaw, who seemed to be motioning to her sister for something.

Dewpaw found a smile making an appearance on his own face as well. He glanced sideways at Redpaw, feeling his heart warm a little, _Maybe she isn't so bad?_

Redpaw flashed him an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Whitepaw wants me to walk with her," she told him, the light in her leaf-green eyes fading a little, "I've got to go! But I'll talk to you later," she began to scoot away, before hesitating, then turning and returning to Dewpaw.

"Bye," was her simple mew before she licked him on the cheek and darted away before Dewpaw could get a word in edgeways.

_Well, that was unexpected. _Though there was no hiding the warm feeling rushing through Dewpaw's body, _She isn't really that bad, _His amber gaze rested on the calico she-cat up ahead, chatting with her sister contently, _She's not really that annoying, perhaps even nice?_

Shortly afterwards Snowpaw fell in beside him and starting blabbing about StarClan knows what, but Dewpaw didn't even utter a word. Because there was only one name rushing through his mind and that was _Redpaw._

* * *

**Well, what did you think? What about RedxDew? What do you think will become of them? Any ideas or warrior name ideas feel free to suggest, I will take in any suggestion! :P Quite proud of this chapter, my favourite quote being - "Don't you just love the sound of the rain falling onto the leaves?" _"No."_**

**Anyway, loving all your support, wish me luck for my drumming exam!**

**Live, love, read and review!**

**Leafy, over and out! -poofs on flying rainbow hued llama doing a dance-**


	19. Chapter Eighteen: A Dream

**I am so sorry for the lateness of this update! I'm going to be honest, yesterday I was just too hot to write. It was 34 degrees Celsius, which I bet isn't at all hot for some of you people, but for the U.K., that's absolutely sweltering! I just couldn't sit down and write, I just couldn't focus. :/**

**Anyway, the chapter's here now, so that's all that matters. I'm sorry about this chapter, it's a bit rubbish if I'm quite honest. There are two point of views that we've never seen before, though I can reveal, we will never see them again... Unless I feel like it. :P**

**Anyway, no interesting fact again today. I've lost my piece of paper with interesting facts written on, so until I find it, no interesting facts. :(**

**Last day of school tomorrow! :D I should be updating more often in the summer holidays, but I can't guarantee anything.**

**Anyway, I do not own Warriors, Erin Hunter does, or rather, the Erin Hunters do.**

**.:Review Replies:.**

**Spottedmoth123 - He he, me too. I have the warrior name for one of them which, coincidentally, is one of the ones you suggested! The other one I haven't decided on yet though. :P**

**Numbuh 227 - Thank you for understanding! ^^ He he, I have already decided one of their warrior names, but the other I have yet to decide on. I don't think I'll decide on the other's warrior name until I get more suggestions, though I now have a shortlist for warrior names for the her. And Thanks! I think it went pretty well, though I did make a few mistakes here and there, but other than that, it was good. :P**

**Orange - Aw, thank you! :D Sorry for the late update, but here ya go!**

**kittenWhisperer - Dewpaw the Party Pooper. xD His warrior name can be Dewpartypooper. xP **

**Avalonmagic - Thank you! Yeah, I love Dewpaw's sarcastic comments. xD My favourite cat from Warriors? I have too many. xD Honeyfern, Greystripe, Feathertail, Silverstream, Cinderpelt, Cinderheart, Lionblaze, Ivypool, Sorreltail, Brackenfern and Foxleap, to name a few. xDDD**

**Firepaw - It's Eye of the Storm. I've actually already planned out the entire series, though feel free to suggest any ideas and I'll take them on board and if I like them, add them in. :3**

**Guest - Awesome, it feels like ages since I've read Firestar's Destiny, yet in reality, I read it a few weeks ago. It's one if my favourite super editions. :)**

**Lightningbreeze - Ooh! I love Amberlight! Unfortunately I have already decided their warrior names and am firmly attached to them, but thanks for the suggestions. :3 I may use them in the future.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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_Amberpaw_

Amberpaw wasn't sure how long they'd been travelling. Dewpaw had told her it was three days since they'd left the gorge behind, but it felt like much longer than that to the patched grey-and-white she-cat.

Surprisingly, they had quickly made ground on their return trip to the lake, using the river as a guide to find the old forest, from which they then knew their way home. This time, on their return journey to the lake, they had chosen to travel through the mountains rather than Twolegplace.

But, with it being mid leaf-bare, there was the constant worry of snow. If they entered the mountains, there was always going to be a chance that if the snow came, they wouldn't be able to continue their journey until the thaw. Choosing to travel through the mountains was always going to be a risky option, but there was absolutely _no way_ they'd be able to travel through Twolegplace un-noticed, there was just too many of them!

"Hey, Amberpaw, Do you think there's something wrong with Dewpaw?"

Snowpaw's concerned mew jerked Amberpaw's head up instantly. Blinking, the grey-and-white she-cat glanced behind her at her littermate, amber eyes instantly lighting up with amusement when they settled on Dewpaw.

The dark grey tom was travelling with Redpaw, yet again. Since the start of their journey, the SkyClan apprentice and Dewpaw had become inseparable. The dark-coloured tom had finally learnt to tolerate the calico she-cat, in fact, they seemed to be friends now.

Amberpaw smirked, "Nope, nothing's wrong with Dewpaw," she leaned a little closer to the white-furred tom, "I think he may have taken a liking for Redpaw."

Snowpaw's amber eyes narrowed to slits and he briefly cast a wary glance over his shoulder at his brother before letting his amber orbs return to his sister, "I never thought I'd see the day when Dewpaw fell for a she-cat," he paused, lifting his head to the sky and tasting the air for a moment, "Though if he really feels that way about Redpaw, there's going to be trouble when we get to the lake."

Amberpaw froze. She hadn't thought about that. Snowpaw was right, if Dewpaw really did have feelings for Redpaw, what would he do when they reached the lake and had to return to their respective clans? Dewpaw wouldn't leave ThunderClan, could he?

Admittedly, Amberpaw hadn't been particularly close to Dewpaw before the journey, but all three littermates were so closely knit now, the pale grey she-cat couldn't imagine life without either of her brothers.

A loud squeal from behind caused Amberpaw to jump. Amber eyes widening with surprise as she ground to a halt and spun round in an attempt to work out who the disturbed sound had come from.

It had come from none other than Shadewillow, a pretty slender all-black she-cat. The SkyClan warrior's round green eyes were filled with fear and settled straight ahead on _something._

"Shadewillow? Are you okay?" whilst Snowpaw saw to the disturbed she-cat and a few unsettled warriors, Amberpaw tried to spot what Shadewillow had been spooked by. She craned her neck, standing on her toes in an attempt to see over the thick hedge on the other side of the river.

They had just emerged from Twolegplace into open fields, many filled with… _Of course, sheep._ As Amberpaw suspected, there was a flock of fluffy white sheep grazing just beyond the hedge.

Smiling, the grey-and-white she-cat pottered back to Shadewillow and rested a tail-tip on her shoulder comfortingly, "It's alright, it's just sheep; they won't hurt you," she glanced over at Snowpaw, a smirk creeping onto her face, "Although they do make a funny noise."

Snowpaw froze at the mention of sheep and sat bolt upright, ears pricked forward alertly and bright amber eyes scanning the horizon for the creatures.

Shadewillow blinked, shrinking away from Amberpaw's touch, "Sheep? I think Ebonyclaw has told me of them," as if a switch had been flicked, the black she-cat was suddenly perfectly content.

With the SkyClan cats all settled, although some still a little wary of the sheep, they continued onwards on their journey. Having now left behind Twolegplace, Amberpaw suspected it wouldn't be long until the old forest.

_ThunderClan seems moons away, but we're edging closer every day. I can't wait to get home; to see my parents, Molespots and my mentor. Perhaps we'll even receive our warrior names?_

That last thought, admittedly, hadn't crossed Amberpaw's mind since setting off on the journey. Would they still be accepted as ThunderClan cats when they returned, would they have to do a warrior assessment or would Bramblestar make them warriors straight away, they had undertaken a long and demanding journey after all, that proved their abilities as warriors.

_I wonder what my warrior name will be? I like Amberheart, or Ambereyes or Amberlight even? _

Whatever name Bramblestar gave her, the pale grey she-cat would be accepting of that name, she was just so curious to know as to what it might be. _I guess we'll just have to wait and see._

_Third Person Point of View_

The moon was bright and clear that night, a sky of dark indigo with a scattering of stars casting light down onto the lake. The water rippled continuously, gently lapping up the pebbled shore with its dark, murky waters.

She was waiting. Waiting at their usual meeting place, just outside the horseplace.

With the kits, the young she-cat hadn't seen the reddish ginger tom in what seemed like moons. But tonight, the small ginger she-cat had been able to leave her kits in the care of another nursery queen.

Tail curled around her paws, the young she-cat sat patiently, green eyes unblinking like an owl. She doubted he'd be here, his housefolk rarely let him out of their Twoleg nest, but perhaps, just perhaps…

The soft crunch of leaves under-paw caused the ginger she-cat's ears to swivel round, pale green orbs peering into the darkness, seeking out his dark ginger pelt. She had missed him, so much. There hadn't been a day that she hadn't thought of him, his handsome amber eyes that she always seemed to get lost in, his reassuring deep voice, his soft pelt.

Her son, who she had named after him, reminded her of his father in so many ways. He had that same sparkle in his eyes, the same longing for adventure. But unlike his father, he _would_ have adventures. He would grow up, become an apprentice, train as a warrior and then eventually join the ranks of warriors.

His father wouldn't, as much as he wanted to. His housefolk kept him in at night, when they could at least. The ginger she-cat had asked him why he didn't just run away, but he'd replied he couldn't. As much as he longed to live free, he had been born in that Twoleg nest, it was home to him.

"Cherryflower? Is that you?" a handsome dark ginger tom stepped out into the light of the full moon, his glossy pelt reflecting the moonlight. Upon spotting the ThunderClan she-cat, his amber eyes stretched wide with disbelief, lighting up as they did so, "It is you!"

Cherryflower beamed brightly, bounding over to the handsome kittypet and nuzzling him softly, tails quickly entwining together, "I missed you so much, Red," she mewed, tone soft and green eyes filled with love and admiration for the other cat, "It was so hard, being without you for so long."

Red's eyes closed with bliss as he pressed against the fluffy ginger she-cat, "I have too, my love, but our kits? Why are you here?" his amber eyes fell to her belly, "I presume they've been born? Tell me, what do they look like? What are their names?"

At the thought of her kits, the ThunderClan queen's eyes lit up even more, "They have been born, they are almost a moon old, but don't worry, Squirrelflight is looking after them," she leaned against the reddish ginger tom, "Their names are Lakekit and Redkit, a tom and she-kit. Lakekit is a ginger tabby with splodges of white and bright blue eyes; she's very bossy, can have a bit of a sharp tongue, but she's very sweet. Redkit, I named him after you. He's a reddish colour, almost like a fox, with pale amber eyes. He's more subdued and gentle, a real thinker."

Red studied his mate for a moment, amber eyes filled with happiness, "They sound wonderful. If only I could meet them," he turned away at that point, not wanting the pretty ginger she-cat to see the pain in his amber eyes.

The light in Cherryflower's eyes faded, "But you can, love! Be free of your twolegs, join ThunderClan," her pale green eyes lit up with hope, "I miss you everyday, there isn't a night I go to sleep without having thought of you. I _need_ you Red, to be with me. You'll be accepted in ThunderClan, I promise, you can watch our kits grow up, we'll be together everyday, we'll have adventures. I love you Red, I need you. Please," she faced him with a begging green gaze, "Come and join ThunderClan."

Red was silent for a moment, his expression revealing none of his inner thoughts. After a minute or so silence, he at last spoke, "I can't. I can't join ThunderClan," eyes clouding with sadness he gave her a reassuring lick on the cheek, "Don't get me wrong, I love you, but I can't leave all this behind," he beckoned to the twoleg nest and horseplace behind him, "I was born here, raised here, I live here. This is home. I love you Cherryflower, but I can't give up my home for you."

It was at that moment that Cherryflower's heart shattered into a million pieces and she began to sob, "I love you too," she whimpered, shrinking away from the dark ginger tom, "But you can't love me, not enough, if you can't leave your home for me," green eyes filling with tears, she looked away, "And if you don't love me, not with your whole heart, then we're over. No more meetings in the moonlight, your kits will grow up not knowing who their father is and we shall never share another word," she gazed at him expectantly, sniffling a little and fresh tears splashing onto the ground.

She was waiting for him to tell her no; that he did love her, with his whole heart, that he could leave his home for her. But such a thing didn't come, instead he uttered a, "So be it."

Cherryflower swallowed, desperately trying to stop the tears from falling, "Goodbye, Red," she meowed coldly, rising to her paws and storming away. She didn't want the reddish ginger tom to see her like this, to see what he'd caused.

Red simply watched as she left and though he may have been putting on a brave face, inside his heart was aching. A single tear fell to the ground, "Goodbye, Cherryflower. My love, the love of my life. There will never be another like you, I love you."

With a flick of his dark ginger tail he strode away, he loved her, he really did. But there was no she-cat that Red would give up his home for, he'd considered it, but he just couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. It broke his heart, seeing her in that state.

_"We're over,"_ her words echoed in his mind as he nimbly leapt onto the wooden fence that bordered Horseplace. He cast one final glance over his shoulder, amber eyes wandering to the lake, to where Cherryflower had stormed off to.

_Cherryflower, _his beautiful, strong, brave, sweet Cherryflower was gone. How he wished he could give up his home to join her, but he just couldn't and it had cost him the only she-cat he'd ever loved.

_Leafpool_

Leafpool wasn't quite sure what kind of a dream she'd been expecting when she closed her eyes and laid down in her nest in the medicine cat den, but it certainly wasn't this. Blinking open tired amber eyes, the tabby and white she-cat took a moment to adjust to the bright light of her dreams and when she finally did so…

She was in a valley, steep grey mountains jutting against the sky to both sides of her. Beautiful wildflowers of many varieties carpeted the valley floor, adding colour to the otherwise dreary landscape.

The sky above seemed to be at unrest; the dreary grey clouds drifting forward then retreating backward, the rain starting to fall, then hesitating, then falling again. It was as if there was a mini battle going on above the ThunderClan medicine cat's head.

Unsure of what to do, Leafpool stepped forwards cautiously, amber gaze drifting to the sky for a moment before focusing her amber orbs on seeking out another cat, this had to be a dream from StarClan, right? A prophecy or omen or something? "Hello? Anybody there? Cinderpelt, Hollyleaf, Firestar? Anyone?"

Then came pawsteps. Soft and continuous, the pawsteps had to belong to more than one cat, but less than four. Three cats perhaps, they sounded quite light though, they must be young cats, apprentices or young warriors maybe? It was as the pawsteps began to grow louder that the landscape around Leafpool seemed to shift and change.

Clouds of amber rolled in from the mountains, dusting away the dull grey clouds. With the amber clouds, morning dew started to form on the wildflowers, almost forming a protective shield for them from the elements. Last, but not least, from the amber clouds, snow started to fall, gently drifting down to the valley floor.

It was then that the sky seemed to be calmed, tamed almost. Snowflakes was softly falling and melting when touching Leafpool's tabby and white pelt, she took another step forward, "StarClan? Is this an omen?"

There came a soft chuckle and a muscular green-eyed ginger tom emerged from the shadows of the mountain, eyes glimmering with amusement, "An omen? Yes, sort of. Though, I, in StarClan?" he snorted in disgust, "I am one of SkyClan's warrior ancestors, my name is Buzzardstar."

The brown and white tabby she-cat froze, amber eyes stretching wide with disbelief, _SkyClan? Isn't the clan that Sandstorm and Firestar told me about when Squirrelflight and I were kits, the lost clan? _Leafpool fixed Buzzardstar with a puzzled expression, "SkyClan?" she echoed, amber orbs starting to distance themselves from the former SkyClan leader.

The dark ginger tom gave a subtle nod of the head, "Yes, SkyClan. Have you ever wondered of where those three apprentices"-

"Snowpaw, Amberpaw and Dewpaw," Leafpool cut in, did this cat know where the missing apprentices had gone? What if they were alive, not dead as they were generally presumed to be, "Do you know where they are? Are they alright?"

Buzzardstar smirked, tail curling around his paws, "They are fine. It has been decided that ThunderClan must at last know the truth behind their disappearance," filled with wisdom, he blinked owl-like amber eyes, "They have set out on a journey, a journey to at last put the sky to ease," he indicated with a flick of his tail to the sky above, "To return SkyClan to the lake."

Leafpool frowned, studying the stocky ginger tom for a moment, "To return SkyClan to the lake, are you sure? There's no more room by the lake, unless they steal another clan's territ"-

Buzzardstar smothered her jaws with his thick ginger tail, "Hush. There is room around the lake, you just have to find it," his knowledgeable green gaze flickered over the tabby and white medicine cat for a moment, "You must tell the clan. When they return, they are not to be treated like traitors, but the saviours they are."

Leafpool slowly nodded, "I will, but…" a frown crossed her features, "Why are you telling me this now? Why not just after they set out on the journey, some other cats, warriors, could have gone with them."

"Because," the muscular ginger tom continued, "it is not long until they return from their journey now, if they make it at least," for a moment, worry was swimming in those owl-like green eyes of his, but it quickly disappeared, "And besides, it was their destiny to go this journey alone, not with the aid of other warriors. They are the cats who are best suited to the tough requirements of such a journey, even if they are just apprentices."

Buzzardstar had begun to walk away now, as he did so, throwing one last comment over his shoulder, "I must go now, dawn is on the horizon. Return to your clan, tell them of this."

"I will, but"- it was too late, the SkyClan ancestor was already gone.

_Seedflight_

"Leafpool has received a dream. In it, one of our warrior ancestors has told her of the whereabouts of the three missing apprentices; Amberpaw, Snowpaw and Dewpaw. They have set out on a journey, or so she has been told. It is not known when exactly they will be returning, but it will be soon, I hope. They have been told by StarClan to set out on this journey, so when they do return, they are not to be treated like traitors, not at all."

Although Bramblestar didn't mention for what cause the three apprentices had set out on their journey, Seedflight couldn't help but feel joy rush through her at the thought of seeing Snowpaw again, feeling his soft fur against hers, hearing his soothing voice.

Grinning from ear to ear, the pale ginger warrior noticed that Molespots also seemed to have perked up at the mention of the three apprentices returning, Cloudtail and Brightheart as well. In fact, the whole clan seemed to be delighted about the return of Amberpaw, Snowpaw and Dewpaw. They were valuable young cats, even if Dewpaw could be a pain in the tail at times.

"They're returning," Molespots breathed from his spot beside her, "They're actually returning. I thought I'd never see her again…"

Seedflight inclined her head, turning to the brown-and-cream tom beside her, "You and Amberpaw were friends then?" she asked, though she already knew the answer. It was no secret that Amberpaw has a crush on Molespots, as much as she tried to hide it. They just seemed to be friends though, barely friends even; Molespots obviously not thinking the same of Amberpaw as she did of him.

"I, yeah, uh, sort of," Molespots fumbled about with his words, "I've missed her, I don't know why though. It's not like we talked much…"-

Seedflight nodded as Molespots continued to ramble on, though to be perfectly honest, she had lost interest. Her thoughts were now centred around Snowpaw; what would he be like after the journey, would he be the same Snowpaw, or would he have matured? Would he have grown at all? Most of all, would he have moved on from her, or even worse, completely forgotten about her?

_Don't be ridiculous, Snowpaw would never forget about you!_ She tried to reassure herself, but she would only know the answer to all these questions swimming in her head when Snowpaw eventually did return, _if _he returned.

"Hey Seedflight, are we going training today?" Honeypaw's inquisitive mew pulled the pale ginger warrior from her thoughts. Molespots had obviously realised that Seedflight was no longer listening to his discussion as she could see him mingling with Lilystream just outside the Warriors' Den.

Blinking away her thoughts, Seedflight smiled warmly at her apprentice, "Of course, how about we go now?"

Honeypaw looked pleasantly surprised at that suggestion and beamed up at Seedflight, "O-okay!"

As the mentor and apprentice padded out of camp, the sun peeped out from behind the clouds. One should not be fooled by this calm weather though, because there was a bitter cold in the wind and many threatening clouds still lined the sky. The pale ginger she-cat savoured the sunlight for a moment, for who knew how much longer it would last? There was a storm on the horizon and nobody would be able to escape its tight grip once it got a hold.

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**Well, what did you think?**

**Remember, live, love, read and review!**

**Leafsplash, over and out! -poofs-**


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Snow

**Oh My StarClan, I am so sorry for the late update! A lot's been happening at home and then I got Writer's Block, it's been mad! Just to let you guys know, I will be going on holiday to a greek island on the 10th of August (this Saturday), for two weeks. I'll be back on the 24th of August, though whilst I'm away I can't promise any updates. We will have wifi though, so feel free to PM me if you have any ideas or just want a chat. ^^**

**Warriors is owned by Erin Hunter, not me! The only thing I own is the writing itself and a few OC's scattered here and there. :)**

**.:Review Replies:.**

**Wyldclaw ~ He he, we'll just have to wait and see. :3**

**Orangeflight ~ Yay for AmberxMole! Sorry for the long update, writer's block + busy = Long update time! xD**

**Hawkwing of WindClan ~ Wow, really? I'm touched. :D**

**Numbuh 227 ~ I agree, poor Cherryflower. Though, between me and you, Red will feature again and he will play a very important part. :)**

**Firepaw ~ Aw, thank you!**

**...**

**Well, enjoy!**

**Remember to R&R!**

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_Snowpaw_

A quarter-moon passed quicker than the flick of a tail. Every day, every step they took, was bringing them closer to the end of their journey, to ThunderClan, _home. _Not much of interest had happened in the last moon, they had managed to catch enough prey to sustain themselves, Redpaw and Dewpaw had grown ever closer and Tinycloud _still _hadn't kitted.

Snowpaw sighed, stretching in the light of early dawn. They had passed through the Old Forest a few days ago and were now just entering the shadows of the Mountains. _Not long until we pass through the mountains,_ Snowpaw thought to himself as he rose to unsteady paws.

The travelling cats had taken shelter in a hollowed out thorn bush for the night and though it had been full when Snowpaw had fallen asleep, it was now empty apart from one or two warriors having a lie in whilst they could. _Wow, everyone else is up early!_

The snowy-white coloured tom emerged from the shadows of their temporary home and into dawn's pale light, shivering at the sudden change of temperature. Beneath his paws, the frosty grass crunched as he made his way over to where Amberpaw was sharing a rabbit with Whitepaw under a great spreading sycamore.

He smiled warmly at the two she-cats, offering them a friendly greeting when he reached their sides, "Good morning, well, a bit cold for my liking," he lifted his head to the clouded sky above, amber eyes scanning the sky, "I think it's going to snow soon."

Amberpaw scoffed, rolling her eyes, "You've been saying that for the last half moon or so, I don't think it's going to snow now," she rest her tail in mock comfort on the white tom's shoulder, "Though I think it may start raining sheep soon, they've been disappearing for days now," she glanced up at the sky, "It's only a matter of time."  
Snowpaw snorted, amber eyes glittering with amusement. He poked his sister playfully, "Well, don't come crying to me when you wake up covered in snow."

"Oh, I won't," the grey-and-white she-cat assured him, "Because I won't _need _to, because it's _not _going to snow."

Snowpaw tossed his head, avoiding eye contact with his littermate as he padded away, "If you say so."

The white apprentice trotted over to the makeshift fresh-kill pile and delicately picked up a small mouse between his teeth, carefully carrying it back to the shade of a young oak tree. Feeling a sudden rush of hunger, Snowpaw quickly gulped down the meal in several mouthfuls, quickly dispersing of any leftover bones or fur by brushing it under a nearby juniper bush.

"Mind if I join you?" a small mew sounded from behind Snowpaw.

The young tom jerked his head up, glancing over his shoulder to see a small pale brown she-cat with wide amber eyes peering at him inquisitively. _Mousepaw._

The ThunderClan apprentice threw the younger apprentice a reassuring smile, "Sure," he meowed warmly, beckoning with a gentle flick of his tail to the spot beside him.

Mousepaw warily stepped forward, settling herself down a few tail-lengths away from Snowpaw. In her jaws she carried a fresh finch, its lifeless body swaying as she set it down on the earthy forest floor.

"Thank you," came Mousepaw's quiet murmur as she tucked into her prey. Snowpaw watched the pale brown she-cat inquisitively, ears pricked forward in mild interest.

After quickly swallowing her meal, the pale brown she-cat turned to Snowpaw beside her, eyes wide with quiet curiosity, "Is it true?" she asked him, voice soft and reminding Snowpaw slightly of Seedflight, "That you're part of a prophecy and you're destined to return SkyClan to the lake?"

Snowpaw chuckled softly at the young apprentice's question, "Yes, it is true," he meowed, amber eyes glimmering with amusement as he studied the pale brown she-cat.

Mousepaw quietly contemplated his response before replying with another question, "So we really are going to the lake? We really are going to live there?" she paused, "What's it like by the lake?"

Snowpaw gave a nod, "Well, if everything goes to plan," he meowed thoughtfully. His amber orbs rested on Mousepaw for a moment before wandering to the horizon, "What's it like by the lake? Well, the lake is basically a great body of water, it's really beautiful though, especially at dawn and dusk. Around it, there's the four territories; ShadowClan's territory, which is just marshes and pine forests really, then there's RiverClan, their territory is filled with, well, rivers and streams. WindClan's territory is hilly and windswept and ThunderClan's territory?" he puffed out his chest in pride at that point, amber gaze at last returning to the SkyClan apprentice beside him, "ThunderClan have the best territory. It's covered in thick deciduous forests, so lots of oak trees and birches and stuff. Our camp is a stone hollow, Bramblestar says it was once a twoleg gorge or something?"

Mousepaw nodded thoughtfully, "Where will we go when we reach the lake though?"  
Snowpaw hadn't exactly thought about that, "Ah, well, uh…" he paused to think for a moment, "There's a rocky area just beyond WindClan, I think SkyClan might be able to settle there," he studied Mousepaw for a heartbeat or so, "We'll just have to wait until we get there really."

The pale brown she-cat nodded uncertainly, amber gaze turning a little distant, "Uh, thanks," was her soft reply before she padded off to go and say 'hello' to her mother, who was watching from a distance.

Snowpaw's amber orbs traced the apprentice as she padded away, "You're welcome."

"You expect us to climb that?"

The travellers stood at the feet of the steep, steel-grey mountains of stone, each and every one of them studying the great structures warily, as if worried they would topple down any moment.

Snowpaw lay the tip of his snowy white tail on a fretful Fallowfern's shoulder, "I know it may seem impossible, but all four of the clans managed to make it through the mountains on the great journey, I'm sure you'll be fine," he offered the pale brown queen a friendly smile, but Fallowfern still looked doubtful.

Dewpaw glanced over his shoulder from the front of a group of SkyClan warriors, "It's just a few mountains. You're not honestly telling me that you've come this far only to be stopped by, basically, some 'giant stones', are you?"

Snowpaw chuckled, "You say 'just a few mountains' as if climbing mountains is easy, as if you've done it," he turned his amber gaze to the SkyClan cats once more, "Climbing these mountains won't be easy, I'm not going to lie. It will be treacherous and the conditions will be tough, but we will make it to the other side, I can promise you that."  
Several unsure murmurs still rippled amongst the SkyClan cats, but most of them at least looked willing to try and _climb_ the mountains.

"Any questions… No? Then let's go," the white tom, after standing still for only a few heartbeats, could already feel the cold rippling through his body like a great white wave. Today was no day for hanging about, they needed to get moving and keep warm. For all they knew, it could snow any day, who cared what Amberpaw thought?

Padding after Dewpaw, who seemed to have taken the lead of the clan, accompanied by Redpaw, the snowy-pelted tom cast his mind back to the last quarter-moon or so.

So far, they had found good hunting, despite the fact that the dark cloud of leaf-bare hung right above their heads. Snowpaw knew though, that things would be an all different story in this next phase of the journey.

The mountains were a very unpredictable place; hunting would be harsh and difficult to master, shelter would be hard to come by and all in all, the mountains was simply a very dangerous place, Snowpaw knew that from the tales he'd heard of the Great Journey.

On the Great Journey, so Sandstorm said, a young ShadowClan apprentice called Smokepaw had fallen down a gap and was never seen again and then there had been a great mountain lion by the name of 'The Sharptooth'. Thankfully though, to the efforts of Feathertail, they wouldn't have to experience any of the suffering that the Sharptooth had brought upon to the Tribe of Rushing Water, but Snowpaw was still a little wary.

_Everyone has parents, so who were the Sharptooth's parents? Do they still live? Perhaps they still roam the mountains, waiting for the right moment to strike? Or what if the Sharptooth had kits of its own? Oh StarClan, please protect us!_

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through Snowpaw's right paw and he winced, screwing up his face in pain, "Ouch!" glancing down at his paw, he quickly noticed that his wounds from when he'd first set paw in SkyClan's old camp had re-opened.

Scowling, the snowy-coloured tom tested putting his weight on it to see whether he could still stand, but he found the pain rushing through him once more and he had to lift up the paw again, relying on his other three paws.

Much to Snowpaw's annoyance, Frecklewish had spotted his little injury and quickly came rushing to his side, the scent of herbs that clung to her pelt quickly filling the ThunderClan apprentice's nostrils. The white tom had been doing his best to escape her sharp gaze in the hope that they'd be able to keep going for a little longer without being held back by a fretful medicine cat fussing over a tiny cut.

"What have you done now?" Frecklewish frowned, studying the cut with wide amber eyes.

The snowy-pelted tom pulled away from the SkyClan medicine cat, "N-no, honestly, I'm fine," he insisted, not meeting Frecklewish's amber gaze.

"No, you are _not_ fine," the mottled she-cat meowed firmly, flicking her tail sharply before glancing over her shoulder and calling to Leafstar, "Leafstar! Snowpaw has cut his paw, we need to stop."

The brown-and-cream leader signalled for her warriors to stop before padding over to the medicine cat and the young ThunderClan tom. After letting her amber gaze wash over Snowpaw's injuries for a moment, she gave a nod of the head, "We needed to stop anyway," she meowed thoughtfully, "We have been travelling almost all day," she inclined her head to the amber sky for a moment before blinking and looking away, "We must find shelter."

Frecklewish dipped her head to her leader, "Yes, Leafstar. Thank you."  
Offering a brief dip of the head, Leafstar padded back to Billystorm's side, leaving Frecklewish to fuss over Snowpaw once more, "You've been working too hard," she meowed hurriedly, pressing a cobweb onto the cut.

The snowy-pelted tom flinched, but didn't pull away this time. Snowpaw was determined that they got to the lake as quickly as possible; with snow possibly on the horizon, the last thing they needed was to get caught in the mountains.

Glancing up at the amber sky, the ThunderClan apprenticed guessed that there was at least 1 hour left of daylight. _1 hour that could've been spent getting somewhere rather than stopping just because of one sore paw._

Secretly though, there was a small part of the white-pelted tom that was delighted they had stopped. He was absolutely _exhausted_; a good night's sleep was exactly what he needed, especially with his cut paw.

It didn't take long to find shelter much to each and every cat's surprise. They chose a rocky overhanging which provided shelter from the elements, though many cats took the other option to sleep in some of the nearby bushes.

Snowpaw wasn't given a choice, he had to sleep under the rocky overhanging under the watchful eye of Frecklewish. Though his paw was no longer bleeding and was now healing under the SkyClan medicine cat's care, Frecklewish was concerned he was working himself too hard and wanted to make sure he had a decent night's sleep.

Snowpaw had made himself a nice mossy nest right against the cliff face and was just settling down for the night when an ear-splitting yowl pierced the silence of the night. Frecklewish sat bolt upright, ears pricked and amber eyes wide.

There was a thunder of paws as a pale grey tom, who Snowpaw recognised as Sagewhisker, came racing over to the medicine cat, "Tinycloud's kitting," he blurted out, trying to catch his breath at the same time.

Frecklewish blinked calmly, "Where is she?"

Sagewhisker flicked his tail towards a hollowed out gorse bush that clung to the mountainside, "She's in there," he mewed hurriedly, "Please, come quickly."

The mottled brown she-cat gave a nod and the pale grey warrior heaved a sigh of relief, bounding back to the kitting queen. It was Snowpaw's guess that Sagewhisker and Tinycloud were mates.

"Brackenpaw, fetch some borage for me. I saw some growing when we were travelling today, it was just near the little stream we passed earlier, the one we stopped and drank at?" Frecklewish meowed calmly to her apprentice whilst searching around for something in the moss.

Snowpaw on-looked with curious amber eyes, "What are you looking for?" he enquired, tilting his head to one side.

"A stick," the medicine cat meowed hurriedly, retrieving a small twig from the bedding, "For Tinycloud to bite when the pain comes," she glanced over at her apprentice briefly, "I'll be with Tinycloud when you return!"

The light brown apprentice gave a dip of the head, "Okay," before scurrying away into the darkness.

Frecklewish rose to her paws, stick firmly clamped between her jaws, "Would you be able to fetch some moss for Tinycloud so she can have a drink? Just wet it in the stream, then bring it to the gorse bush," she motioned to the hollowed out bush nearby.

Snowpaw dipped his head, "Yes, Frecklewish," he scrambled to his paws, bounding over to the rock face. Skidding to a halt, the white-furred apprentice began to tug at the moss that was growing in the cracks and crevices that dotted the dark grey stone wall.

After collecting what he considered enough, Snowpaw picked up the moss in his jaws and padded out from under the rocky overhanging and into the cold of the night. It was so cold that his breath billowed into soft clouds, just visible in the pale moonlight.

The harsh wind tugging at his snowy white pelt, Snowpaw swallowed the lump in his throat and began to pad in the direction of the stream, or at least where he remembered it to be. He was relying on his hearing, the cool of the stones under-paw and the scents and smells of the mountains to guide his paws to the stream as it was too dark to see a tail-length beyond his own paws, _I guess this is what it's like for Jayfeather. I sure am glad that I'm not blind._

When the soft babbling of water greeted his ears, Snowpaw knew he had almost reached his destination and smiled to himself. Soon enough, the moonlight bouncing off the surface of the stream was picked up by his bright amber orbs and Snowpaw bounded over, crouching down by the water's edge.

Cautiously, as not to let the stream's current wash it away, Snowpaw lowered the moss into the water.

"Are you collecting moss for Tinycloud?"

A tiny mew from behind him caused Snowpaw to jump in fright, almost dropping the moss in the stream. Taking a deep breath, he peered around to see a small pale brown tom emerge into the moonlight, a bundle of herbs at his paws.

"Oh, it's you Brackenpaw," recognising the small tom as SkyClan's medicine cat apprentice, Snowpaw heaved a sigh of relief, "Do you have to sneak up on me all the time; you almost scared the life out of me!"

The young medicine cat apprentice smirked mischievously, "It's what I do; it's fun scaring other cats," he studied Snowpaw for a moment, "Are you going to answer my question?"

"Oh, uh, y-yes," Snowpaw stammered, "This is for Tinycloud… Why do you ask?"

Brackenpaw chuckled, "You're doing it wrong, there's barely a sip of water soaked in that moss! Let me try," the pale brown tom took the moss off of Snowpaw and dropped it into the stream.

Snowpaw's eyes stretched wide, "Hey! I have to find more moss now, it'll be absolutely soaked!"

Brackenpaw smirked, waiting for a few heartbeats before swiping the moss from the stream and shaking a few droplets from it before pushing it towards Snowpaw, "That's how you soak moss, the _right_ way."

Snowpaw just stared at the thoroughly soaked bit of moss for a heartbeat, "Uh, Thank you?"

The pale brown apprentice flicked his tail, "No problem," and just like that, he melted into the shadows, leaving nothing but the fading thud of pawsteps.

Snowpaw hurriedly picked up the moss in his jaws, "Hey! Wait for me!" he began to race after the medicine cat apprentice, paws thundering against the rocky ground.

The snow-furred apprentice caught a brief glance of the medicine cat apprentice on the path ahead, but after blinking, Brackenpaw was gone, "Brackenpaw! Wait!"

At his swift pace, Snowpaw quickly reached their makeshift camp, only to find Brackenpaw sitting outside the hollowed out gorse bush, casually drawing his paw over his ear then licking it.

The snowy coloured tom skidded to a halt, "How did you get here so fast?" he demanded.

But before Brackenpaw could respond, Frecklewish emerged from the gorse bush, "Ah, there you are, come inside," Snowpaw offered her the moss as he followed her inside the temporary den and the mottled brown medicine cat smiled warmly, "Thank you, I'm sure Tinycloud will appreciate a drink."

Inside the gorse bush, Snowpaw's eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light. On a nest of moss and feathers lay a small white she-cat, face screwed up in pain. At her side was crouched Sagewhisker, smiling warmly at the SkyClan queen, though his eyes gave away the worry he was feeling for Tinycloud.

At Tinycloud's belly lay three kits, squirming to find the best spot at their mother's belly. The largest one was a ginger tom with white patches, the second kit was a small very pale grey she-kit with black points and the last was a dark grey tom with black paws.

But judging from the SkyClan queen's state; with the convulsions that rippled through her every now and then, there was still one last kit to come.

"If you could just put the moss down here," Frecklewish nodded to just beside Tinycloud's head, "Then she can have a drink when she needs one," her attention turned to Brackenpaw for a moment, "You found the borage? Ah, excellent."

"StarClan, that hurts!" a yowl from Tinycloud jerked Snowpaw's head in the white queen's direction. Sagewhisker's eyes stretched wide with fear for his mate and he briefly touched noses with the small she-cat, offering a little comfort, a little light in the dark sea of pain.

"You ready, Tinycloud?" Frecklewish asked, crouching beside the kitting she-cat. Tinycloud gave a weak nod. The mottled brown she-cat smiled, "Now, _push!"_

Tinycloud gritted her teeth as a ripple of pain surged through her, chest heaving at the effort. Just under her tail, a tiny sac slithered out onto the moss.

Frecklewish immediately nipped the sac and began to clean the kit inside of fluid. When the kit at last started mewling, the medicine cat smiled, gently setting down the kit at its mother's belly, "Congratulations, Tinycloud. You have three toms and one she-kit."

Tinycloud smiled warmly at her kits, nuzzling Sagewhisker softly, "Shall we name them?" she whispered softly.

Snowpaw felt as though he was intruding on this family moment and was about to vacate the den when Frecklewish stopped him, "Stay," was her simple command.

Snowpaw obeyed, amber orbs flitting back to the new family. Tinycloud rested her tail-tip on the ginger-and-white tom-kit, the largest of the litter, "What about Wildkit for this one?" she suggested.

Sagewhisker purred, licking the white queen's cheek softly, "Wildkit is perfect," he meowed softly, love for his new kits and mate dancing in his green eyes, "I thought for this one," he nodded to the pale grey she-kit with black points, "We could call her Dovekit or Lark-kit?"

Tinycloud nodded, "I like Lark-kit," she murmured, nuzzling Sagewhisker and curling her tail around her kits protectively, "What about this one?"

Sagewhisker studied the kit that Tinycloud had motioned to; a dark grey tom with black paws, "What about Wolfkit?"

"Yes, Wolfkit," Tinycloud tenderly licked Wolfkit's forehead before moving to the last kit, a small white tom, "I'd like to call this one Frostkit."

Sagewhisker smiled warmly at his kits, "Welcome to the world, Wildkit, Lark-kit, Wolfkit and Frostkit."

Snowpaw watched the whole scene with a fond smile, _I wonder if I'll ever be a father?_ The thought surprised him and he quickly shook it away, _What were you thinking Snowpaw? You're just an apprentice, Seedflight probably doesn't even want kits! She probably doesn't even like you!_

The white tom sighed, amber orbs flitting around the den one last time before dipping his head and leaving the new family to a little bonding time._ Well, it's been an eventful day I guess it's time I get some rest, who knows what tomorrow might bring?_

The weather had been busy that night. When Snowpaw awoke, he found bright white light flooding his vision and it took several blinks for him to realise why. Peering out from the rocky overhanging that had provided him with shelter from the night, he found himself face to face with a snowy scene.

The ground was covered in a thick blanket of white snow, though it looked as though it would be getting even thicker as the snow was continuing to fall, very heavily at that.

Snowpaw smiled smugly, _I was right, in your face, Amberpaw!_ The white tom shook any leftover weariness from his limbs before trotting out into the snow, head held high. He was immediately greeted by a bitterly cold wind and he shivered, _Brrr, I forgot how cold snow could be!_

Snowpaw trudged through the snow, amber orbs firmly set on the hollowed out thorn bush that he knew all the other apprentices, minus himself and Brackenpaw, had chosen to sleep in. Upon finally reaching the thorn bush, Snowpaw shook the snow out of his pelt and stepped inside.

Amberpaw lay asleep in the corner, curled up into a tight ball. Beside her lay Dewpaw and Redpaw, then Whitepaw and last, but not least, Mousepaw. Mousepaw was the only one awake of the five apprentices and sat perkily, studying the world outside through a hole in the den wall.

Snowpaw lumbered over to Amberpaw, bones stiff from the cold. He prodded the grey-and-white she-cat until she awoke and when she did so, he only had one thing to say to her, "I told you so."

Then he left, leaving a very confused, and still rather sleepy, Amberpaw in his wake.

_Mystery Point of View_

He wasn't bothered by the snow; his thick black pelt provided warmth from the icy cold snowflakes that continued to fall from the clouded sky above. He was crouched low, his belly fur only just brushing the snow-covered rocky floor.

His piercing blue gaze was fixed directly in front of him, on a small rocky overhanging in the Cliffside, surrounded by several windswept mountain bushes. The black tom smirked to himself, green eyes dancing with triumph, _It's just as Titch said, cats, many cats. It's perfect, just perfect._

He watched for a few heartbeats, safely tucked away from view by a great rock pile that had been formed by a recent avalanche. Several snowflakes gently drifting down landed on his jet-black fur, but immediately melted when they met the warmth of his body.

There was a pale grey-and-white she-cat that the black-furred tom particularly liked the look of, _She is young, strong. She would be an excellent addition, she could provide us with many kits._

It would be very difficult though to steal away an almost full-grown cat, no, the black tom would stick what he knew best. Kits were the easiest to steal, too young to understand what you're doing, easy to train.

The battle-scarred black tom knew for a fact that there were kits within this group, he'd heard their cries at dawn. Now that he at last found this group that Titch had told him about, they could at last put their plan into action.

He would alert The Attackers and perhaps the Defenders would be able to aid as well? The black tom knew that The Town Guardian wanted the biggest group of cats he could lay his paws on, an army almost. All The Guardian wanted was power, he didn't care about anything else, just power.

These kits, they would bring more power to The Guardian. The black tom smirked, claws sliding out and sinking into the snow at the thought of power. He was much like The Guardian, all he cared for was power and glory.

Perhaps if this was successful, The Guardian would reward him? Perhaps he would promote him to a higher rank, a Body Guard or perhaps even second in command?

The black-pelted tom swiped his tongue around his jaws at the thought of it. _Power; I can taste it already._

* * *

**Ooh, what did you guys think of that ending? Think you know who the mysterious black tom is?**

**What about Tinycloud's kits, just adorable!**

**By the way, I need a medicine cat name for Brackenpaw and warrior names for Whitepaw, Mousepaw and little Lark-kit! The rest of the TinyxSage litter I have already decided names for.**

**Remember, live, love, read and review! Oh yeah, and don't forget to breathe! xD**

**Leafy x**


	21. Author's Note (Please read!)

**Hullo! This is ****_not _****an update I'm afraid, but please read anyway! Oh, and don't worry, I'm not going on hiatus or cancelling the story. ^^**

**I know, I know, I should've updated a while ago, but I was on holiday and then I was super busy! The next chapter is in progress, it should be up by the end of next week, with luck. As soon as I've posted the new chapter, I'll delete this.**

**School just started yesterday, so I'm still adjusting, which is also why this next chapter is taking a while. Again, apologies for all this!**

**Oh, and also, if you have any name ideas for tribe cats, please tell me them in your review as we will be meeting the tribe in a chapter or so. :) Also, if there are any kits or apprentices in ****_any _****of the clans that you would like to be mates or at least crushes when they're older, just say so in your review. And finally, if there are any cats in ThunderClan that have either already had kits or have yet to have kits and you'd like them to have kits, tell me! Dovewing will be expecting Bumblestripe's kits soon by the way, so there's no need to suggest them. :D**

**I'll see you soon for an update!**

**Leafy x**


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